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MR.  POPE 

HIS   LIFE  AND  TIMES 
VOL.  I 


IVorks  by  the  same  jJuihor 

A  MODERN   AMAZON 

A  BREAD  AND   BUTTER   MISS 

A   STUDY   IN  PREJUDICES 

THE  CAREER  OF   CANDIDA 

A   FAIR   DECEIVER 

A   WRITER  OF  BOOKS 

MRS.  DELANY 

LITTLE  MEMOIRS  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY 

LITTLE  MEMOIRS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH 
CENTURY 

SIDELIGHTS   ON   THE   GEORGIAN 
PERIOD 

GEORGE    ROMNEY 

B.   R.    HAYDON   AND   HIS   FRIENDS 

SOCIAL     CARICATURE     IN     THE    EIGH- 
TEENTH  CENTURY 

LADY   MARY  WORTLEY   MONTAGU 


,     MR.  POPE 

HIS   LIFE   AND   TIMES 


BY 

GEORGE   PASTON 


Not  Fortune's  worshipper  nor  Fashion's  fool, 
Not  Lucre's  madman  nor  Ambition's  tool, 
Not  proud  nor  servile,  be  one  poet's  praise. 
That  if  he  pleased,  he  pleased  by  manly  ways: 
That  flattery,  ev'n  to  kings,  he  held  a  shame. 
And  thought  a  lie  in  verse  or  prose  the  same  ; 
That  not  in  Fancy's  maze  he  wandered  long, 
But  stooped  to  Truth,  and  moralised  his  song. 

Epistle  to  Dr.  Arbuthnot. 


WITH    TWENTY-SIX    ILLUSTRATIONS,    INCLUDING 
TWO    PHOTOGRAVURE    FRONTISPIECES 


VOL      1 


London:    HUTCHINSON   &   CO. 
Paternoster  Row         -^         ^        1909 


,    ......  ,•. •    •  ",   •":  •  • 

!!•!•♦•*    •* ••• 

.••\  ::•:.*  t  • •   •  •.*      •  • 


•     •  •    •    .. 


•  ♦.*••.* 

•  •  .  •  .    . 
.  •      •      • . 


Gi 


PREFACE 

THERE  is  a  certain  type  of  reader  (more  common 
than  the  cultured  may  suppose)  who,  when 
the  name  of  Pope  is  mentioned  exclaims,  "  Pope  ! 
That's  the  man  who  said  '  Whatever  is,  is  right.' " 
A  little  more  searching  of  the  memory,  and  he 
recalls  that  Pope  was  also  responsible  for  such 
platitudes  as  "  The  proper  study  of  mankind  is 
man,"  and  "  An  honest  man's  the  noblest  work 
of  God."  He  shows  a  tendency  to  confuse  Pope 
with  Solomon,  and  he  has  been  known  to  attribute 
a  line  from  the  "  Essay  on  Man  "  to  Shakespeare. 
It  is  to  this  type  of  reader  that  the  present  plain 
chronicle  of  the  life  and  work  of  the  poet  is  more 
especially  dedicated.  Short  summaries  are  given  of 
all  the  important  poems,  in  the  hope  that  such 
a  taste  will  inspire  a  desire  for  more.  No  attempt 
has  been  made  at  independent  criticism,  but  passages 
are  quoted  from  the  judgments  of  eighteenth-  and 
nineteenth-century  critics. 

It  seems  desirable  to  apologise  in  advance  for 
the  sins  of  omission  and  commission  which  must 
inevitably  find  their  way  into  a  study  of  such  an 
expert  mystery-monger  as  Pope,  Also,  for  all 
offences  against  established  beliefs,  opinions,  and 
prejudices,  which,  not  less  inevitably,  must  be  com- 


vi  Preface 

mitted  in  dealing  with  a  man  who  was  so  fruitful 
a  source  of  quarrels  in  his  life-time  and  of  con- 
troversy after  his  death.  If  it  be  thought  that 
the  follies  and  failings  of  the  poet  are  too  frankly- 
treated,  let  the  dictum  of  Samuel  Johnson  be 
remembered  :  "  We  must  confess  the  faults  of  our 
favourite  in  order  to  gain  credit  to  our  praise  of 
his  excellence.  He  that  claims,  either  for  himself 
or  another,  the  honour  of  perfection,  will  surely 
injure  the  reputation  of  the  friend  he  desires  to 
assist." 

For  the  benefit  of  those  readers  who  may  desire 
to  improve  their  acquaintance  with  the  poet,  the 
following  list  is  given  of  the  authorities  who  have 
been  consulted  in  the  preparation  of  this  work. 
First  and  foremost,  of  course,  comes  the  defini- 
tive edition  of  *'  Pope's  Works,"  published  by 
Mr.  Murray  (1871-89),  and  edited  by  the  Rev. 
Whitvvell  Elwin  and  Professor  Courthope.  This 
monumental  work,  with  its  scholarly  memoir  (by 
Professor  Courthope),  its  admirable  introductions 
and  illuminative  notes,  is  a  veritable  treasure- 
house  of  learning — indispensable  to  the  student  of 
eighteenth-century  literature  in  general,  and  of  the 
poetry  of  Pope  in  particular. 

Though  the  editions  of  Roscoe,  Bowles,  Warton, 
and  Warburton,  have  been  superseded  by  this  modern 
undertaking,  still  it  is  interesting  to  compare  the 
conclusions  of  Pope's  earlier  with  those  of  his 
later  editors.  The  best  handbook  to  the  study 
of  Pope  is  the  memoir  written  by  Sir  Leslie  Stephen 
for  the  "  Men  of  Letters  "  series,  but  the  longer 
and    more   detailed   "  Life "    by   Robert    Carruthers 


S  ' 


Preface  vii 

may  also  be  read  with  Interest.  The  researches  and 
discoveries  of  Mr.  Dilke  are  published  among  his 
"Papers  of  a  Critic,"  while  an  examination  of  Pope's 
edition  of  Shakespeare  will  be  found  in  Mrs. 
Lounsbury's  valuable  book,  "  The  Two  First 
Editors  of  Shakespeare."  Among  the  Essayists  and 
critics  who  have  paid  special  attention  to  Pope  are 
Isaac  Disraeli,  Hazlitt,  De  Quincey,  Thackeray, 
Mark  Pattison,  and  John  Conington.  Spence's 
•'  Anecdotes,"  Dr.  Johnson's  short  '*  Life,"  and 
Warburton's  discursive  '*  Essay  on  the  Genius  and 
Writings  of  Pope,"  cannot  be  neglected,  though 
Ruffhead's  "  Life "  may  be  taken  as  read.  In- 
teresting allusions  to  the  poet  will  be  found  in 
the  "  Letters "  of  Dean  Swift,  Lord  Bolingbroke, 
Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu,  Mrs.  Delany,  Lady 
Hervey,  Lady  Suffolk,  Samuel  Richardson,  Aaron 
Hill,  the  poet  Gray,  Horace  Walpole,  and  Lord 
Byron,  as  also  in  the  works  of  Lord  Chesterfield 
and  the  table-talk  of  Dr.  Johnson.  For  the 
curious  in  such  matters,  there  is  a  whole  library 
of  lampoons  on  Pope  in  the  British  Museum, 
including  attacks  by  Dennis,  Welsted,  Moore- 
Smythe,  Ducket,  and  other  members  of  the  society 
of  Grub  Street.  In  the  manuscript-room  at  the 
Museum  are  a  couple  of  volumes  containing  un- 
published letters  addressed  by  Pope  to  Ralph  Allen 
and  Hugh  Bethel,  from  which  passages  have  been 
quoted. 

My  warmest  thanks  are  due  to  Captain  Cottrell 
Dormer,  of  Rousham  (the  beautiful  Oxfordshire 
house  where  Pope  so  often  stayed),  for  his  kindness 
in   allowing    me  to   read,  and   make  extracts   from. 


viii  Preface 

the  Interesting  manuscript  correspondence  of  Mrs. 
Caesar,  of  Bennington. 

I  have  also  to  thank  Professor  Courthope  for 
the  helpful  letters  that  he  was  good  enough  to 
write  in  response  to  an  appeal  for  *'  more  light " 
on  certain  incidents  in  the  poet's  career. 

May  23,  1909. 


^^ 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    I 

1688-1704 

PAGE 

PARENTAGE   AND  CHILDHOOD I 

CHAPTER    II 

I 704-1 706 

EARLY   FRIENDSHIPS — WYCHERLEY   AND   THE   WITS      .        II 

CHAPTER    III 

I 706-1 708 

LIFE   AT  BINFIELD 21 

CHAPTER    IV 
1709-10 


THE    "  PASTORALS  " 


28 


CHAPTER    V 
1711 
"^    THE   "  ESSAY   ON   CRITICISM  " 36 

CHAPTER    VI 
1711 

NEW       LITERARY       PROJECTS — "  THE       UNFORTUNATE 

LADY" 51 

ix 


X  Contents 

CHAPTER    VII 
1712 

PAOB 

"  THE  MESSIAH  " — "  THE  RAPE  OF  THE  LOCK  "     .  .        61 

CHAPTER    VIII 

i^  WINDSOR  FOREST  " — THE  PRODUCTION  OF  "  CATO  "    72 

CHAPTER    IX 

1713 

ARTICLES    IN    "  THE    GUARDIAN  " — "  THE    NARRATIVE 

OF    DR.    NORRIS  " 82 

CHAPTER    X 

1713 
PROPOSALS  FOR  THE  TRANSLATION  OF  THE  "  ILIAD  "    .         93 

CHAPTER    XI 

1714 

"  THE   RAPE   OF  THE  LOCK  " lOI 

CHAPTER    XII 

1714 

WORK    ON     THE     "  ILIAD  " — THE     DEATH     OF     QUEEN 

ANNE 117 

CHAPTER    XIII 

1714 

RELATIONS  WITH  ADDISON — CORRESPONDENCE  WITH 
THE  BLOUNTS — VISIT  TO  BATH—"  EPISTLE  TO  A 
YOUNG   LADY  ON   LEAVING  TOWN  "...      I28 


1 


Contents  xl 

CHAPTER    XIV 

1714-15 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  PUBLISHING  THE  "  ILIAD  " — "  THE 


CHAPTER    XVI 


"  FAREWELL    TO     LONDON  " — SATIRE     ON     ADDISON 


PAGE 


NEW   REHEARSAL  " — "  THE    TEMPLE    OF    FAME  "    .      I40 


CHAPTER    XV 

1715 

"  THE     WHAT-D'YE-CALL't  ?  " — BURNET'S     "  HOMER- 
IDES  " — THE  FIRST  VOLUME  OF  THE  "  ILIAD  "       .       I5I 


I715 

' — SA- 
THE  WAR-LIKE   SPIRIT — VISIT   TO   BATH  165 


CHAPTER    XVII 

1716 

THE  MOVE  TO  CHISWICK— LADY  MARY  WORTLEY 
MONTAGU — -CURLL  AND  THE  COURT  POEMS — 
"  EPISTLE  TO  JERVAS  " — PARODY  OF  THE  FIRST 
PSALM 178 


CHAPTER    XVIII 
1716-17 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  LADY  M.  W.  MONTAGU — 
COUNTRY  VISITS — "  THREE  HOURS  AFTER  MAR- 
RIAGE " — THE    QUARREL   WITH    GIBBER  .  .      I90 


CHAPTER    XIX 

1717 

POPE'S     "  WORKS  " — "  THE     EPISTLE     OF     ELOISA     TO 

ABELARD  " 201 


xii  Contents 

CHAPTER    XX 
1717 

PAGE 

SOCIAL  ENGAGEMENTS — COUNTRY  VISITS — DEATH  OF 
THE  ELDER  POPE — MISUNDERSTANDINGS  WITH 
THE   BLOUNTS 210 

CHAPTER    XXI 

1718 

QUARREL    WITH    THE    BLOUNTS — STANTON    HARCOURT 

— FATE    OF   THE    RUSTIC   LOVERS  .  .  .      220 

CHAPTER    XXII 

1719 

MOVE  TO  TWICKENHAM — RELATIONS  WITH  LADY 
MARY  WORTLEY  MONTAGU — THEORIES  OF 
GARDENING 23O 

CHAPTER    XXIII 

1720 

THE  END  OF  THE  "  ILIAD  " — GAY'S  WELCOME  FROM 
GREECE  —  CRITICISMS  —  ILL  HEALTH  AND  LOW 
SPIRITS 238 

CHAPTER    XXIV 

1720 

THE  SOUTH  SEA  BUBBLE 249 

CHAPTER    XXV 

1721 

'  EPISTLE  TO  JAMES  CRAGGS  " — SWIFT's  MANIFESTO 
—  PROPOSED  EDITION  OF  SHAKESPEARE  — 
PARNELL'S  "  REMAINS  "  —  "  EPISTLE  TO  LORD 
OXFORD  " 257 


Contents  xiii 

CHAPTER    XXVI 

1722 

PAGE 

PROPOSED  TRANSLATION  OF  THE  "  ODYSSEY  " — COM- 
MITMENT OF  ATTERBURY — FLIRTATION  WITH 
JUDITH   COWPER  ....  .      27I 

CHAPTER    XXVII 

1723 

THE  DUKE  OF  BUCKINGHAM'S  "  WORKS  " — THE  TRIAL 
AND  BANISHMENT  OF  ATTERBURY-^DEPRESSION 
OF  SPIRITS — CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  JUDITH 
COWPER 279 

CHAPTER    XXVIII 

1724 

THE  SUBSCRIPTION  FOR  THE  "  ODYSSEY  " — CORRE- 
SPONDENCE  WITH   LORD    BOLINGBROKE  .  .      29I 

CHAPTER    XXIX 

1725 
THE   EDITION   OF   SHAKESPEARE  ....      3OO 

CHAPTER    XXX 

1725 

THE      GROTTO  —  SWIFT'S      MISANTHROPY  —  SCANDAL 

ABOUT  MARTHA   BLOUNT 308 

CHAPTER    XXXI 

1726 

THE  END  OF  THE  "  ODYSSEY  " — DISCONTENT  OF 
BROOME  AND  FENTON — POPE'S  BENEVOLENCE — 
swift's  visit  TO  ENGLAND — CARRIAGE  ACCIDENT      319 


PAGE 


xiv  Contents 

CHAPTER    XXXII 

1727 

THE  "  MISCELLANIES  " — SWIFT'S  LAST  VISIT  TO 
ENGLAND — DEATH  OF  GEORGE  I. — LETTERS  TO 
CROMWELL — gay's  REFUSAL  OF  A  PLACE  AT 
COURT 331 

CHAPTER    XXIII 

1728  '■ 

"  THE  beggar's  OPERA  " — THIRD  VOLUME  OF  THE 
"  MISCELLANIES  " — "  THE  BATHOS  " — COUNTER- 
ATTACKS     341 

CHAPTER    XXXIV 

1728 

"  THE   DUNCIAD  " 35^ 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


ALEXANDER   POPE    (WITH    PRESUMABLY)    MARTHA   BLOUNT 

From  the  picture  by  Charles  Jervas.  Photogravure  Frontispiece 

FAQNG  PAGE 
JACOB    TONSON 22 

From  a  mezzotint  engraving  after  the  painting  by  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller. 

ARABELLA    FERMOR   .........  62 

From  an  engraving  by  C.  Knight  after  the  painting  by  Sir  Peter  Lely. 

SIR    GEORGE    BROWN,    THE    "  SIR    PLUME  "    OF    "  THE    RAPE    OF 

THE    LOCK  "  .........  68 

From  an  engraving  by  C.  Picart  after  the  picture  by  Sir  Peter  I,ely. 

"  THE  RAPE  OF  THE  LOCK,"  CANTO  I.     (From  the  secofid  edi- 
tion of  the  poem,   1714)         .......     102 

From  an  engraving  by  C.  Du  Bosc  after  a  painting  by  T,.  Du  Guernier. 

"  THE   RAPE   OF  THE   LOCK,"    CANTO   III.     {From  the  second 
edition  of  the  poem,  1714)     .         .         .         .         .         .         .108 

From  an  engraving  by  C.  Du  Bosc  after  a  painting  by  I<.  Du  Guernier 

JOSEPH    ADDISON I72 

From  a  mezzotint  engraving  by  J.  Faber,  1733,  after  the  painting  by  Sir 
Godfrey  Kneller. 

ALEXANDER  POPE  AT  THE  AGE  OF  28   .     .     .     .     .   202 

From  a  mezzotint  engraving  by  J .  Smith  after  the  painting  by  Sir  Godfrey 
Kneller. 

MARTHA   AND   TERESA   BLOUNT  222 

From  an  original  painting. 

LADY  MARY  WORTLEY  MONTAGU,  I72O 236 

From  an  engraving  by  Caroline  Watson  after  a  painting  by  Sir  Godfrey 
Kneller. 

FRANCIS   ATTERBURY,    BISHOP    OF   ROCHESTER  ....       282 

From  a  mezzotint  engraving  by  J.  Simon  after  a  painting  by  Sir  Godfrey 
Kneller,   1718. 

XV 


xvi  List  of  Illustrations 

FACTNG  PAGE 

ALEXANDER   POPE,    1 722 284 

From  a  mezzotint  engraving  by  G.  White,  1732,  after  a  painting  by  Sir 
Godfrey  Kneller. 

DR.    JONATHAN    SWIFT 312 

From  a  mezzotint  engraving  by  Vanhaecken  after  the  painting  by 
Markham. 

ALEXANDER   POPE    AT   THE   AGE   OF   38       .  .  ,  .  .      344 

From  a  mezzotint  by  J.  Simon  after  the  painting  by  M.  Dahl,  1727. 

"THE    DUNCIAD  " 352 

Facsimile  of  title-page  of  an  early  edition. 


MR.    POPE 

CHAPTER    I 

1688-1704 

Parentage  and  Childhood 
et 
A  LEXANDER    POP  .,    poet    and    satirist,  who 

-^^  changed  the  tune  of  English  verse,  and  at- 
tempted t9  change  the  tone  of  English  morals,  was 
born,  not  inappropriately,  in  the  year  of  Revolution 
— on  May  21,  1688.  The  subject  of  his  birth 
and  pedigree  has  been  obscured  by  various  legends, 
some  invented  by  his  enemies  and  others  inspired 
by  himself.  It  seems,  however,  fairly  well  established 
that  there  were  three  Alexander  Popes,  the  first 
being  a  clergyman  of  whom  nothing  is  known  except 
that  he  held  the  living  of  Thruxton,  in  Hampshire. 
His  son,  Alexander  the  Second,  the  father  of  the 
poet,  was  born  in  1645  and  placed,  while  quite  a 
youth,  with  a  business  firm  at  Lisbon,  where,  it  is 
supposed,  he  became  a  convert  to  Romanism.  After 
his  return  to  England  he  started  in  business  as  a 
linen  merchant  ^  in  Broad  Street,  and  married  a  wife 
of  whom  history  merely  relates  that  her  name  was 

^  He  "  dealt  in  Hollands  wholesale  "  (Spence). 
VOL.    I  I 


2  Mr.  Pope 

Magdalen,  and  that  she  died  in  1679,  leaving  one 
daughter. 

Having  prospered  in  a  modest  way,  Mr,  Pope 
moved  to  Lombard  Street  and  married  Edith 
Turner,  the  daughter  of  a  small  Yorkshire  land- 
owner. Here  his  famous  son,  Alexander  the  Third, 
was  born.  The  marriage  must  have  been  a  social 
rise  for  the  linen  merchant,  and  perhaps  the  cause 
for  Miss  Turner's  condescension  may  be  found 
in  the  fact  that  she  was  over  forty  at  the  time 
of  the  wedding,  and  belonged  to  a  family  of 
seventeen  children.  Three  of  her  brothers  served 
in  the  army,  and  a  sister,  Christina,  married  the 
successful  miniature  pair  t,  Samuel  Cooper.-^  Mrs. 
Cooper  was  godmother  oj  the  poet  and  left  him 
a  "  painted  china  dish  with  a  silver  pot  and  a  dish 
to  set  it  in,"  as  well  as  the  reversion  of  her  books, 
pictures,  and  medals. 

Pope  himself  gives  a  more  exalted  account  of  his 
pedigree.  His  father,  he  asserted,  belonged  to  a 
gentleman's  family  in  Oxfordshire,  the  head  of 
which  was  the  Earl  of  Downe — a  statement  for 
which  he  seems  to  have  been  his  own  sole  authority. 
His  mother,  he  declared,  had  the  education  and 
breeding  of  a  gentlewoman.  Mrs.  Pope's  few  letters 
leave  her  reader  with  a  lively  hope  that  the  breeding 

1  Samuel  Cooper  (1609-1672).  He  was  well  named  "  The  Little 
Van  Dyck.-'  He  painted  Charles  H.  and  many  members  of  his 
Court,  but  his  chef  d''ceuvre  was  his  portrait  of  Cromwell.  In 
this  connection  Gillray's  famous  caricature  may  be  remembered, 
"A  Connoisseur  examining  a  Cooper."  This  shows  George  HI. 
looking  at  a  miniature  of  Cromwell,  and  is  a  humorous  reminder 
of  the  fate  that  another  obstinate  monarch  suffered  at  the  hands 
of  the  Protector. 


Parentage  and  Childhood  3 

of  the  contemporary  gentlewoman  was  superior  to 
her  education. 

The  truth  is  that  the  poet's  parents  were  a  plain, 
honest,  middle-class  couple,  gifted  with  plenty  of 
common-sense,  and  still  more  uncommon  tact. 
Alexander  the  elder  had  the  wit  to  make  a  small 
fortune  and  to  retire  from  business  before  he  was 
too  old  to  adapt  himself  to  a  leisured  country  life. 
In  or  about  the  year  1700  he  bought  a  small  house  ^ 
and  twenty  acres  of  land  at  Binfield,  a  village  on 
the  borders  of  Windsor  Forest.^  Here  he  settled 
down  very  comfortably  on  his  modest  income  of 
about  four  hundred  a  year,  and  from  the  first  appears 
to  have  been  received  on  equal  terms  by  the  county 
families  who  lived  in  and  around  the  Forest. 
Though  he  had  taken  to  country  pursuits  com- 
paratively late  in  life,  he  achieved  some  success  as 
a  gardener,  and  was  especially  distinguished  for  the 
excellence  of  his  artichokes.^  Mrs.  Pope,  who, 
according    to    one    not  unbiassed    opinion,   "  always 

^  Pope  describes  it  as — 

A  little  house,  with  trees  a-row, 
And,  hke  its  master,  very  low. 

^  About  two  miles  from  Wokingham  and  nine  from  Windsor. 
'  His  unobtrusive  virtues  are  immortalised  in  his  son's  verses  : 

Stranger  to  civil  and  religious  rage, 
The  good  man  walked  innoxious  through  his  age. 
No  courts  he  saw,  no  suits  would  ever  try, 
Nor  dared  an  oath,  nor  hazarded  a  lie. 
Unlearned,  he  knew  no  schoolman's  subtle  art, 
No  language  but  the  language  of  the  heart. 
By  nature  honest,  by  experience  wise, 
Healthy  by  temperance  and  by  exercise. 

The  good  man  was  also  something  of  a  critic,  for  he  would  give 
back  his  son's  verses  to  be  "  re-turned,"  saying,  "  These  are  bad 
rhymes." 


4  Mr.  Pope 

appeared  to  have  much  better  sense  than  her  son,"^ 
contrived  throughout  her  long  life  to  keep  on  good 
terms  with  her  family,  her  neighbours,  and  her 
son's  friends,  these  last  including  wits,  Bohemians, 
free-thinkers,  men  about  town,  noble  lords,  and 
fashionable  ladies.  This  was  no  small  feat  in  days 
when  self-control  was  not  regarded  as  the  first 
essential  of  good-breeding,  and  when  tempers  were 
constantly  irritated  and  inflamed  by  over-indulgence 
in  meat  and  drink. 

Pope's  physical  heritage  was  inferior  to  his  moral 
heritage.  His  parents  were  both  middle-aged  at 
the  time  of  his  birth.  His  father  was  afflicted  with 
a  slight  spinal  curvature,  while  his  mother  suffered 
from  nervous  head-aches,  though  both  must  have 
had  strong  constitutions,  since  they  lived  to  advanced 
old  age.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  the  poet  as  a 
child,  but,  according  to  his  half-sister,  Magdalen 
Rackett,  he  was  a  pretty,  healthy  little  boy,  with  a 
round  rosy  face  and  a  docile  temper.  His  voice 
was  so  sweet  that  he  earned  the  name  of  the  "  Little 
Nightingale."  While  still  in  petticoats  he  was 
attacked  by  a  "  wild  cow,"  which  struck  at  him 
with  her  horns,  wounded  him  in  the  throat,  and 
trampled  on  him.  Though  the  accident  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  seriously  regarded  at  the  time, 
it  is  possible  that  it  left  some  injury  which  helped 
to  undermine  his  constitution. 

As  far  as  formal  education  went,  the  boy  was  not 
forced  or  over-driven.  His  aunt,  Mrs.  Cooper, 
is  supposed  to   have  taught   him   his  letters,  and  he 

'  This   was    said   by   Lady  Mary  Wortley    Montagu   after  her 
quarrel  with  Pope. 


Parentage  and  Childhood  5 

learnt  to  write  by  imitating  print.  As  a  Catholic, 
the  public  schools  and  colleges  were,  of  course, 
closed  to  him,  and,  after  receiving  a  little  instruction 
from  a  priest,  he  was  sent  to  a  Catholic  school  at 
Twyford,  near  Winchester,  where,  he  declares,  he 
unlearnt  the  little  that  he  knew.  From  Twyford 
he  was  removed  because  he  had  received  a  severe 
flogging  for  writing  a  satire  on  his  master.  He 
was  sent  for  a  short  time  to  another  school  near 
Hyde  Park  Corner,  kept  by  Thomas  Deane,  a 
pervert,  who  had  stood  in  the  pillory  for  his 
principles.  Deane  was  probably  patronised  by  the 
Catholic  gentry  in  recognition  of  his  martyrdom, 
since  he  was  an  incapable  teacher.  Pope  used  to 
say  that  he  learnt  nothing  from  him  except  to  con- 
strue some  of  Tully's  "Offices,"  but  he  appreciated 
the  leisure  he  enjoyed  for  his  own  pursuits  and 
studies.  Among  his  favourite  books  were  Ogilby's 
version  of  the  "  Iliad,"  Sandys'  Ovid  and  a  translation 
of  Statius. 

'*  When  I  was  about  twelve,"  he  relates,  "  I  wrote 
a  kind  of  play  which  I  got  to  be  acted  by  my  school- 
fellows. It  was  a  number  of  speeches  from  the 
*  Iliad '  tacked  together  with  verses  of  my  own." 
Thus  it  will  be  recognised  that,  what  with  his  satires 
and  his  Homer,  Pope  the  child  was  the  legitimate 
father  of  Pope  the  man.  The  boy  only  remained 
for  a  short  time  at  Deane's  school  and  was  then 
placed  for  a  few  months  with  a  priest  in  the  Forest. 
This  was  all  the  regular  education  he  received,  being 
permitted,  soon  after  he  entered  his  teens,  to  pursue 
his  own  studies  at  home. 

"  When   I   had   done  with   my   priest,"    he    used 


6  Mr.  Pope 

to  say,  "  I  took  to  reading  for  myself,  for  which 
I  had  a  very  great  eagerness  and  enthusiasm,  especi- 
ally for  poetry  ;  and  in  a  few  years  I  had  dipped 
into  a  great  number  of  the  English,  French,  Italian, 
Latin,  and  Greek  poets.  This  I  did  without  any 
design  but  that  of  pleasing  myself,  and  got  the 
languages  by  hunting  after  the  stories  in  the  several 
poets  I  read,  rather  than  read  the  books  to  get 
the  language.  I  followed  everywhere  as  my  fancy 
led  me,  and  was  like  a  boy  gathering  flowers  in 
the  field,  just  as  they  fell  in  my  way." 

At  the  age  of  thirteen  Pope  began  an  epic  poem 
on  the    subject  of   Alcander,  Prince  of  Rhodes,  of 
which  four    thousand   lines   were    written.      In    this 
work,  which   was  two  years  in  hand,  he  modestly 
endeavoured  to  collect  all  the  beauties  of  the  great- 
est poets,   including  Homer,   Virgil,    Statius,    Ovid, 
Milton,  Spenser,  and  Cowley  !     The  manuscript  was 
burnt    in    after -years,    on    the    advice    of    Bishop 
Atterbury,    who,    however,   regretted   that  the    first 
page    had    not    been    preserved.       Two    or     three 
verses  which  have  survived  show  considerable  dex- 
terity   in   the   handhng  of  the  heroic  metre.     The 
following  couplet  was  transferred  bodily   to   "  The 
Dunciad  "  : 

As  man's  meanders  to  the  vital  spring, 

Roll  all  their  tides,  then  back  iheir  circles  bring.^ 

More  successful  probably,  because  less  ambitious, 

'  Another  couplet  showed  the  influence  of  the  then  fashionable 
poetaster,  Sir  Richard  Blackmore  : 

Shields,  helms,  and  swords  all  jangle  as  they  hang, 
And  sound  formidinous  with  angry  clang. 


Parentage  and  Childhood  7 

was  the  "Ode  to  Solitude,"  which  was  written  at  the 
age  of  twelve,  beginning  : 

Happy  the  man  who,  free  from  care, 
The  business  and  the  noise  of  town. 
Contented  breathes  his  native  air 

In  his  own  grounds,^ 

and  concluding    in  a    melancholy   vein,  appropriate 
to  the  age  of  the  writer  : 

Thus  let  me  live,  unseen,  unknown. 
Thus,  unlamented,  let  me  die, 
Steal  from  the  world,  and  not  a  stone 
Tell  where  I  lie. 

During  his  first  great  reading  period,  which  lasted 
from  his  twelfth  to  his  nineteenth  year,  Pope  tells 
us  that  he  made  himself  acquainted  with  all  the 
best  critics  as  well  as  all  the  best  poets.  Such 
continuous  and  impassioned  study,  though  too 
desultory  to  make  the  poet  a  scholar  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  word,  made  him  at  least  a  "  full  man." 
Reading  that  is  undertaken  for  pleasure  is  naturally 
more  easily  assimilated  than  the  compulsory  studies 
of  school  and  college,  and  Pope,  who  possessed  only 
too  perfect  a  memory,  made  the  most  of  what  the 
schoolmen  would  have  regarded  as  very  modest 
baggage.2 

'  This  juvenile  poem  was  not  allowed  to  see  the  light  without 
retouching.  In  the  last  version  the  false  rhymes  are  corrected, 
and  the  first  verse  runs  : 

Happy  the  man  whose  wish  and  care 
A  few  paternal  acres  bound, 
Content  to  breathe  his  native  air 

In  his  own  ground. 

"  Thomas  Heame,  the  antiquary,  writing  in  1729,  said  :  "This 
Alexfcder  Pope,  though  he  be  an  English  poet,  yet  he  is  but  aq 


"8  Mr.  Pope 

This  absorption  in  literature  created  in  the  youth- 
ful student  a  corresponding  interest  in  the  literary 
men  of  his  own   time.     When  he  was  about  twelve 
years  old  he  contrived  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  Dryden, 
the  master  from  whom,  as  he  confesses,  he  had  learnt 
the  art  of  versification.      Pope  probably  saw  the  old 
poet  at  Will's  Coffee-house  in  Russell  Street,  Covent 
Garden,    where    Dryden    had    his    own    arm-chair, 
which  in  winter  had  a  settled  and  prescriptive  right 
to  a  place  by  the  fire,  and  in  summer  was  placed  on 
the  balcony.      In  any  literary  dispute  the  first  appeal 
was   made   to  him,  and  the  young  beaux  and  wits 
thought  it  a  great  honour  to  have  a  pinch  of  snuff 
out  of  his  box.     Although  Pope,  child  as  he  was, 
looked  on   the   poet  with   veneration,  and  observed 
him  well,  he  could  tell  but  litde  about  him  in  after- 
life  except    that  "  Dryden  was  not  a  very   genteel 
man  ;  he  was  intimate  with   none  but  poetical  men. 
He  was  said  to  be   a  very   good   man   by  all  who 
knew   him.     He  was  as  plump   as   Mr.    Pitt,   of  a 
fresh  colour   and  a  down  look,  and    not  very  con- 
versible." 

When  he  was  about  fifteen  the  young  Alexander 
conceived  a  sudden  desire  to  go  to  London  for  a 
time,  in  order  to  learn  French  and  Italian,  His 
family  demurred  to  what  seemed  a  wild  sort  of 
project,  since,  in  spite  of  his  strong  wish  to  travel 
abroad,  it  was  improbable  that  he  would  ever  be 
strong  enough  to  make  the  grand  tour.  However, 
he  stuck  to  his  point,  and,  as  he  generally  managed 

indifferent  scholar,  mean  at  Latin,  and  can  hardly  read  Greek. 
He  is  a  very  ill-natured  man,  and  covetous  and  excessively  proud." 
But  then  Hearne  had  been  ridiculed  in  "  The  Dunciad." 


Parentage  and  Childhood  9 

to  get  his  own  way  with  his  parents,  he  obtained 
permission  to  spend  a  few  months  in  London. 
During  this  brief  period  he  is  said  to  have 
"  mastered  "  the  desired  languages.  By  "  mastery," 
however,  can  only  have  been  meant  that  he  was  able 
to  spell  out  French  and  Italian,  though  Voltaire 
declares  that  "  Pope,  with  whom  I  was  intimately 
acquainted,  could  hardly  read  French  and  spoke  not 
one  syllable  of  our  language."  Pope  certainly 
showed  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  works  of 
the  modern  French  poets  and  critics,  and  this  could 
hardly  have  been  obtained  in  every  case  through 
translations,  though  many  of  the  standard  French 
works  were  "  done  into  English "  at  the  end  of 
the  seventeenth  and  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
centuries. 

|The  young  poet's  mode  of  life,  his  unbridled 
passion  for  study,  and  his  indifference  to  fresh  air 
and  exercise,  had  already  developed  in  him  the 
hereditary  tendency  to  spinal  trouble  and  nervous 
head-aches.  In  his  mother  and  nurse  he  had,  no 
doubt,  two  ministering  angels,  but  they  were  angels 
without  much  knowledge  of  hygiene,  while  the 
medical  treatment  of  the  period  rang  the  changes 
on  bleeding,  blistering,  and  purging.  Probably 
there  was  excitement  of  mind  as  well  as  of  body,  for 
the  boy's  friends  thought  him  "  queer,"  and  "  Rag  " 
Smith, ^  the  dramatist,  declared  that  he  would  become 
either  a  madman  or  a  very  great  poet.  By  the  time 
he  reached  the  age  of  seventeen  his  health  was  so 
completely  shattered  that  he  resigned  himself  to 
death,  and,  not  without  enjoyment  of  his  own 
^  Edmund  Smith,  a  long-forgotten  playwright. 


lo  Mr.  Pope 

pathetic  fate,  sent  round  farewell  messages  to  all  his 
friends.  The  family  priest,  however,  Thomas 
Southcote,^  refused  to  believe  that  the  case  was 
hopeless,  and  insisted  on  going  to  town  to  consult 
the  famous  Dr.  Radcliffe.  He  returned  with  the 
valuable  prescription,  "  Study  less  and  ride  out  every 
day."  This  advice  was  followed,  and  in  a  short  time 
the  patient  was  able  to  take  up  again  the  burden  of 
that  "  long  disease,"  his  life. 

'  Twenty  years  later  the  grateful  poet  was  able  to  obtain  for 
Southcote,  through  the  good  offices  of  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  an 
abbacy  near  Avignon.  j 


CHAPTER    II 

1 704-1 706 

Early  Friendships — Wycherley  and  the  Wits 

THE  Catholic  youth  of   Queen  Anne's  day  was 
strictly    limited  in  his  choice  of  a  profession. 
The   army   and   navy   were    closed    to    him,  as  was 
the  law,   except   in   its    lower  branches.     He  could 
not    hold    office    as    a    civil    servant,    and    therefore 
the    popular    sport    of  place-hunting    was    not    for 
him.     He  might  practise  as  a  medical  man,  though 
he   could  only  look  for   a  clientele  among  members 
of   his    own    religion,    and     he    might    become    an 
author,  an  actor,    a  painter  or  a  musician,  but  the 
pursuit  of  art  or  literature  was  not  yet  regarded  as 
a    "  profession."     At    one    time    there    was  an  idea 
that   the   young   Pope  should    study   medicine,    but 
the  boy's  health  was  probably  a  bar  to  his  entering 
any  calling  that  required  an  arduous  training.    Paint- 
ing— portrait-painting    being  understood — seemed  a 
more    suitable    occupation    for    a    sickly   lad.      Mrs. 
Pope  had  inherited  from  her  sister  Samuel  Cooper's 
grinding-stone  and  muller,  and  the  family  councils 
were  probably  influenced  by  the  successful  example 
of  the  miniaturist.     From  time  to  time  the  young 
student   would  temporarily  forsake    his    books    and 

II 


12  Mr.  Pope 

devote  himself  with  much  industry,  but  little  success, 
to  the  study  of  painting. 

But  it  must  have  been  clear  to  all,  with  eyes 
to  see,  that  his  true  vocation  was  for  "  letters  "  ^ — an 
unprofitable  calling,  but,  as  the  son  of  a  man  of 
independent  means,  he  could  "  commence  author " 
without  the  fear  of  starving  in  a  garret,  or  being 
forced  to  prostitute  his  pen  for  bread.  During  a 
long  probationary  period  his  parents  behaved  with  a 
kindness  and  consideration  that  may  best  be  de- 
scribed as  "  modern."  They  nursed  their  poet  when 
he  was  sick,  believed  in  him  when  he  was  un- 
productive, and  appear  to  have  been  equally  content 
whether  he  pursued  his  studies  quietly  at  home 
or  played  the  man  of  pleasure  among  his  friends  in 
town. 

At  that  time  there  was  a  little  colony  of  old 
CathoHc  families  living  in  or  around  the  Forest, 
including  the  Dancastles  of  Binfield,  the  Englefields 
of  Whiteknights,  the  Fermors  of  Tusmore,  the 
Stonors  of  Stonor,  and  the  Blounts  of  Mapledurham. 
That  the  retired  London  tradesman,  his  homely  wife, 
and  clever  boy  were  soon  admitted  to  the  intimate 
friendship  of  the  old-established  families  is  somewhat 
remarkable,  since  the  "county"  usually  resents  the 
intrusion  of  trade  into  its  midst  and  is  not  much 
attracted  by  talent.  But  in  those  persecuting  days 
the  members  of  the  proscribed  religion  held  closely 
together.       It    was    not    only    the    Catholic    gentry, 

'  As  yet  a  child,  nor  yet  a  fool  to  fame, 
I  lisped  in  numbers,  for  the  numbers  came. 
I  left  no  calling  for  this  idle  trade, 
No  duty  broke,  no  father  disobeyed. 

Epistle  to  Dr.  Arbuthnot. 


Early  Friendships  13 

however,  who  patronised  the  boy  Pope.  One  of  his 
earliest  friends  was  old  Sir  William  Trumbull, 
ex-Ambassador  and  Secretary  of  State,  who  had  re- 
tired from  public  life  in  1697  and  was  now  living 
at  Easthampstead  Park.  When  Pope,  by  Dr.  Rad- 
clifFe's  advice,  began  to  ride  daily  in  the  Forest, 
he  was  joined  by  Sir  William,  who  sympathised 
with  the  boy's  poetical  projects,  and  was  always 
ready  to  discuss  "  the  classics,"  ^ 

In  his  youth  Pope  associated  chiefly  with  elderly 
men,  and  in  after-life  he  complained  that  this  had 
brought  him  some  troublesome  habits.  One  of  his 
earliest  literary  friends  was  Wycherley,  the  drama- 
tist, of  whose  patronage  he  was  so  proud  that  he 
used  to  follow  him  about  like  a  little  dog.  The 
acquaintance  seems  to  have  begun  about  1704,  when 
Pope  was  sixteen  and  Wycherley  sixty-four.  The 
dramatist  was  then  a  widower,  and  living  on  a  small 
pension  granted  him  by  James  11.  The  plays  that 
had  made  him  famous  had  all  been  written  before 
he  was  thirty-five,  but  he  had  just  published,  by 
subscription,  a  folio  volume  of  miscellaneous  poems, 
the  bottom  dregs  of  his  wit. 

Wycherley  introduced  his  boy-friend   to  William, 
Walsh,  of  Abberley  Park,  poetaster  and  critic,  man 
of  fashion    and    universal  lover.     Dry  den  had   de- 
scribed him  as  the  best  living  critic,  and  declared  that 
with  his  "  Dialogue   concerning  Women  "  ^  he  had 

^  Sir  William  Trumbull  was  born  in  1639  and  died  in  1716.  He 
had  been  Envoy  Extraordinary  to  France  and  Ambassador  to  the 
Porte.  He  was  Secretary  of  State  with  the  Duke  of  Shrewsbury 
from  1695  to  1697. 

^  Published  in  1691.  Walsh  used  to  say  that  he  had  been 
guilty  of  every  folly  except  matrimony.     In  his  public  capacity  he 


14  Mr.  Pope 

come  into  the  world  forty-thousand  strong,  before 
he  had  ever  been  heard  of.  It  was  Walsh  who 
*  advised  the  young  student  to  make  "correctness" 
his  study  and  aim,  since,  though  we  had  several 
great  poets,  we  had  not  one  who  was  "  correct." 
Nobody  seems  to  have  called  upon  the  critic  to 
define  exactly  what  he  meant  by  '*  correctness."  But 
Pope  was  deeply  impressed  by  the  advice,  which 
harmonised  with  his  own  inclinations,  and,  whether 
for  good  or  evil,  "  correctness "  became  the  fetish 
to  which  he  sacrificed   throughout  his  poetical  life. 

One  other  early  friend  of  the  poet's  may  be  men- 
tioned— Henry  Cromwell,  an  elderly  man  about 
town,  with  literary  tastes  and  a  turn  for  writing 
verse.  Gay  alludes  to  him  as  "  honest,  hatless 
Cromwell  in  red  breeches,"  and  the  only  information 
that  Johnson  could  collect  about  him  was  that  he 
used  to  go  out  hunting  in  a  tye-wig.  Prom  Pope's 
correspondence  we  gather  that  he  was  a  regular 
habitue  of  green-rooms  and  coffee-houses,  and  that 
he  tried  to  combine  the  roles  of  lady-killer,  critic,  and 
sportsman.  He  was  nearly  fifty  when  Pope  was 
introduced  to  him,  and  it  is  evident  that  the  boy  was 
impressed  by  his  knowledge  of  the  world,  and  tried, 
not  too  successfully,  to  model  his  own  conversation 
and  conduct  upon  those  of  the  elderly  beau. 

Pope's  earliest  letters  are  addressed  to  Wycherley, 
Walsh,  Sir  William  Trumbull,  and  the  Rev.  Ralph 
Bridge,  a  nephew  of  Sir  William.  The  Wycherley 
correspondence  was  carefully  "  prepared  "  for  publi- 
cation by  Pope,  more  suo,  but  the  discovery  of  some 

was  a  Whig  M.P.,  and  Gentleman  of  the  Horse  to  Queen  Anne. 
He  was  about  forty-two  when  he  made  Pope's  acquaintance. 


Wycherley  and  the  Wits  15 

of  Wycherley's  original  letters  at  Longleat  threw 
suspicion  on  the  poet's  methods  of  editing,^  The 
first  published  letter  from  Pope  to  Wycherley,  dated 
"  Binfield,  in  Windsor  Forest,  December  26,  1704," 
is  interesting  from  its  mention  of  Dryden. 

"  It  was  certainly  a  great  satisfaction  to  me,"  he 
says,  "  to  see  and  converse  with  a  man  whom,  in  his 
writings,  I  had  so  long  known  with  pleasure  ;  but  it 
was  a  high  addition  to  it  to  hear  you  at  our  very 
first  meeting  doing  justice  to  your  dead  friend, 
Mr.  Dryden.  I  was  not  so  happy  as  to  know  him  : 
Virgilium  tantum  vidi.  Had  I  been  born  early 
enough,  I  must  have  known  and  loved  him,  for  I 
have  been  assured,  not  only  by  yourself  but  by 
Mr.  Congreve  and  Sir  William  Trumbull,  that  his 
personal  qualities  were  as  amiable  as  his  poetical,  not- 
withstanding the  many  libellous  misrepresentations 
of  them,  against  which  the  former  of  these  gentle- 
men has  told  me  he  will  one  day  vindicate  him." 

In  Pope's  opinion  these  injuries  were  begun  by 
the  violence  of  party,  and  continued  by  the  scribblers 
who  were  envious  of  Dryden's  fame.  Already  the 
young  man  had  conceived  a  bitter  prejudice  against 
the  critics,  whom  he  likened,  first  to  birds  of  prey, 
and  afterwards  to  curs,  though  Wycherley  had 
assured  him  that  such  a  promising  young  poet  had 
nothing  to  fear  from  criticism.  Unluckily,  Pope 
had  set  out  on  his  epistolary  career  with  the  fatal 

^  Pope's  edition  was  published  in  1729,  professedly  from  the 
original  manuscripts  in  Lord  Oxford's  library.  The  incident  will 
be  dealt  with  in  its  proper  place  ;  but  it  should  be  mentioned  here 
that  Wycherley's  letters  have  certainly  been  retouched  by  Pope, 
and  that  one  at  least  of  Pope's  letters  to  Wycherley  is  made  up 
out  of  letters  to  his  friend,  John  Caryll. 


1 6  •  Mr.  Pope 

determination  to  write  "  as  a  wit."  Wycherley  had 
never  attempted  to  write  as  anything  else,  but  the 
flow  of  his  good  things  had  presumably  been  used 
up  for  his  comedies.  The  correspondence  on  both 
sides  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  precious  phrases, 
twisted  periods,  and  far-fetched  flattery.  As  De 
Quincey  says,  the  correspondents  strained  every 
nerve  "  to  outdo  each  other  in  carving  all  thoughts 
into  a  filigree  work  of  rhetoric,  and  the  amcebaean 
contest  was  like  that  between  two  village  cocks  from 
neighbouring  farms,  endeavouring  to  overcrow  each 
other." 

From  Pope's  version  of  his  own  letters,  it  would 
seem  that  he  rebuked  Wycherley,  kindly  but  firmly, 
for  dealing  too  liberally  in  flattery,  remarking,  "  I 
must  blame  you  for  treating  me  with  so  much 
compliment,  which  is  at  best  but  the  smoke  of  friend- 
ship." He  was  careful,  however,  to  suppress  a  letter 
in  which  Wycherley  brings  the  same  charge  against 
himself,  protesting  that  his  "  great  little  friend  "  had 
tried  his  patience  by  high-flown  praises,  "  for  I  have 
not  seen  so  much  poetry  in  prose  a  great  while,  since 
your  letter  is  filled  with  so  many  fine  words  and 
acknowledgements  of  your  obligations  to  me  (the 
only  asseverations  of  yours  I  dare  contradict),  for 
I  must  tell  you  your  letter  is  like  an  author's  epistle 
before  the  book,  written  more  to  show  his  wit  to  the 
world  than  his  sincerity  or  gratitude  to  his  friend, 
whom  he  libels  with  his  praise,  so  that  you  have 
provoked  my  modesty  even  whilst  you  have  soothed 
my  vanity  ;  for  I  know  not  whether  I  am  more 
complimented  or  abused.   .   .   ." 

Wycherley  professed   a   warm   interest   in   Pope's 


Wycherley  and  the  Wits  17 

"intrigues"  with  the  Muses.  So  old  a  man  as 
himself,  he  observes,  can  give  no  cause  for  jealousy 
to  so  young,  so  great,  and  so  able  a  favourite  of  the 
Nine.  "  I  am,  in  my  inquiry,"  he  adds,  "  like  old 
Sir  Bernard  Gascoigne,  who  used  to  say  that  when 
he  was  grown  too  old  to  have  his  visits  admitted 
alone  by  the  ladies,  he  always  took  along  with  him 
a  young  man  to  ensure  his  welcome  to  them  ;  for 
had  he  come  alone  he  had  been  rejected,  only 
because  his  visits  were  not  scandalous  to  them." 
i,  Pope,  who,  since  his  childish  efforts  at  original 
poetry,  had  employed  his  pen  chiefly  in  translating 
and  imitating  classic  models,  completed  his  first 
important  work,  the  "Pastorals,"  in  1704,  though  as 
yet  he  seems  to  have  had  no  thought  of  printing 
them.  During  the  autumn  of  1705  he  spent  some 
time  in  town,  frequenting  the  theatres  and  coffee- 
houses, and  improving  his  acquaintance  with  the 
wits.  His  poems,  which  were  handed  round  in 
manuscript,  were  his  best  introduction,  and  brought 
him  to  the  notice  of  the  poetical  Granville,  afterwards 
Lord  Lansdowne,  ^  and  the  Duke  of  Buckingham.^ 
Writing  to  an  unknown  correspondent  about  that 
time,  Granville  says  : 

"  He  [Wycherley]  shall  bring  with  him,  if  you 
will,  a  young  poet,  newly  inspired,  in  the  neighbour- 

1  George  Granville  (1667-1735)  is  celebrated  by  Pope  in  the 
"Epistle  to  Dr.  Arbuthnot "  as  "Granville  the  polite."  Pope  also 
addressed  "Windsor  Forest"  to  him.  He  wrote  a  play  called 
Heroick  Love,  and  verses,  after  the  manner  of  Waller,  in  praise  of 
"  Mira."  His  poetry  is  justly  forgotten,  though  his  name,  as  a 
poet,  is  embalmed  in  his prott'ge's  verse. 

^  John  Sheffield,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  author  of  "  An  Essay  on 
Poetry  "  and  "  An  Essay  on  Satire." 

VOL.  I  2 


y 


i8  Mr.  Pope 

hood  of  Cooper's  Hill,  whom  he  and  Walsh  have 
taken  under  their  wing.  His  name  is  Pope.  He  is 
not  above  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  of  age,  and 
promises  miracles.  If  he  goes  on  as  he  has  begun  in 
the  pastoral  way,  as  Virgil  first  tried  his  strength, 
one  may  hope  to  see  English  poetry  vie  with  the 
Roman,  and  this  swan  of  Windsor  sing  as  sweetly 
as  the  Mantuan." 

Though  he  assiduously  haunted  Will's  Coffee- 
house, then  the  great  literary  centre.  Pope  had  to 
wait  several  years  before  he  made  the  acquaintance 
of  Addison  and  Steele,  both  of  whom  had  already 
come  to  the  front,  Addison  with  his  "Campaign" 
(1704)  and  Steele  with  his  "Christian  Hero"  and  his 
comedies.  Of  Swift,  who  visited  London  in  1705 
and  1707,  we  hear  nothing  in  Pope's  early  letters, 
while  Gay  had  not  yet  emerged  from  behind  his 
counter.  Swift  used  to  say  that  he  never  heard 
worse  conversation  than  at  Will's,  and  when  Pope 
exchanged  the  famous  coffee-house  for  Windsor 
Forest  (October  1705)  he  declared  that  he  found 
"  no  other  difference  than  this  betwixt  the  common 
town-wits  and  the  down-right  country  fools — that 
,  the  first  are  pertly  in  the  wrong,  with  a  little  more 
flourish  and  gaiety — and  the  last  neither  in  the  right 
nor  in  the  wrong,  but  confirmed  in  a  stupid  settled 
medium  betwixt  both.  .  .  .  Ours  are  a  sort  of 
modest,  inoffensive  people,  who  neither  have  sense 
nor  pretend  to  any,  but  enjoy  a  jovial  sort  of  dulness. 
They  are  commonly  known  in  the  world  by  the 
name  of  honest,  civil  gentlemen." 

The  respect  and  politeness  with   which  this  pre- 
cocious   youth  was    treated  by  at    least  one  of  his 


Wycherley  and  the  Wits  19 

country  neighbours,  who  was  by  no  means  wanting 
in  either  sense  or  learning,  are  sufficiently  illustrated 
by  a  brief  extract  from  a  letter  from  Sir  William 
Trumbull,  dated  June  15,  1706  : 

"It  is  always  to  my  advantage  to  correspond  with 
you,  for  I  either  have  the  use  of  some  of  your 
books,  or,  which  I  value  much  more,  your  con- 
versation. 1  am  sure  it  will  not  be  my  fault  if 
I  do  not  improve  by  both.  I  wish  also  I  could 
learn  some  skill  in  gardening  from  your  father 
(to  whom,  with  your  good  mother,  all  our  services 
are  presented,  with  thanks  for  the  artichokes),  who 
has  sent  us  a  pattern  that  I  am  afraid  we  shall  copy 
but  in  miniature,  for  so  our  artichokes  are  in  respect 
to  his." 

Wycherley,  whose  subscription  volume  of  "  Mis- 
cellanies "  had  been  a  failure,  owing  partly  to  the 
bankruptcy  of  his  bookseller,  was  again  occupied 
in  correcting  and  transcribing  such  pieces  as  he 
thought  might  be  reprinted  in  a  smaller  edition. 
His  memory  was  so  much  impaired,  however, 
that  he  was  apt  unconsciously  to  repeat  his  own 
thoughts  and  paraphrase  those  of  others.  It  oc- 
curred to  him  that  Pope's  infatuation  might  be 
turned  to  some  practical  account,  for  early  in  1706 
he  suggested  that  his  young  friend  should  look  over 
and  revise  some  of  his  essays  and  verses.  Pope 
undertook  the  task  with  all  the  bright  confidence 
of  youth,  though  in  so  doing  he  ran  counter  to 
the  advice  of  his  shrewd  old  father.  He  began  by 
correcting  a  paper  on  Dryden,  of  which  Wycherley 
remarks  :  "I  own  you  have  made  more  of  it  by 
making  it  less,  as  the  Dutch  are  said  to  burn  half 


20  Mr.  Pope 

the  spices  they  bring  home,  to  enhance  the  price  of 
the  remainder." 

A  request  quickly  followed  to  look  over  that 
"  damned  '  Miscellany  '  of  mine,  to  pick  out,  if  possi- 
ble, some  that  may  be  altered,  so  that  they  may 
appear  again  in  print."  Ever  ready  to  oblige,  and 
superbly  conscious  of  his  own  powers,  Pope  touched 
up  the  verses,  composed  new  lines,  deleted  repeti- 
tions, and  handed  back  the  revised  manuscripts  with 
a  compliment  of  which  the  intention  is  better  than 
the  metaphor  :  "  You  have  commissioned  me  to 
paint  your  shop,  and  I  have  done  my  best  to  brush 
you  up  like  your  neighbours,  but  I  can  no  more 
pretend  to  the  merit  of  the  production  than  a 
midwife  to  the  virtues  and  good  qualities  of  the 
child  she  helps  into  the  light." 


CHAPTER    III 

1 706-1 708 
Life  at  Binfield 

npHE  "  Pastorals,"  of  which  mention  has  already 
-■-  been  made,  became  famous  long  before  they 
attained  the  honour  of  print.  They  were  read  and 
admired  by  wits  of  standing  like  Congreve  and 
Garth,  and  by  noblemen  of  discernment  like  Lord 
Halifax  and  Lord  Wharton.  "  Knowing  Walsh," 
as  Pope  dubbed  him,  declared  that  Virgil  himself 
had  written  nothing  so  good  at  sixteen,  and 
Trumbull  complained  that  it  was  cruel  to  withhold 
such  wonderful  compositions  from  the  world. ^  But 
the  young  poet  professed  to  be  in  no  hurry  for 
publicity.  The  ideal  of  "  correctness "  was  ever 
before  his  eyes,  and  he  retouched,  blotted,  and 
polished  until  the  fame  of  his  work  reached  the 
ears  of  old  Jacob  Tonson,  the  publisher,  who  wrote 
to  the  unknown  author  on  April  20,    1706  : 

"  I  have  lately  seen  a  pastoral  of  yours  in  Mr. 
Walsh's  and  Mr.  Congreve's  hands,  which  is  ex- 
tremely fine,  and  is  generally  approved  by  the  best 

^  "  Wits,  courtiers,  statesmen,  grandees  the  most  dignified  and 
men  of  fashion  the  most  brilliant,  all  alike  treated  him  [Pope] 
not  only  with  pointed  kindness,  but  with  a  respect  that  seemed  to 
acknowledge  him  as  their  intellectual  superior"  (De  Quincey). 


21 


22  Mr.  Pope 

judges  in  poetry.  I  remember  I  have  formerly  seen 
you  at  my  shop,  and  am  sorry  1  did  not  improve 
my  acquaintance  with  you.  If  you  design  your 
poem  for  the  press,  no  person  shall  be  more  careful 
in  printing  of  it,  nor    no    one    can    give    a  greater 


encouragement  to  it." 


This  flattering  offer  from  Dryden's  own  publisher 
was  naturally  accepted,  though  Pope  declared  that 
he  was  heartily  relieved  when,  from  one  cause 
or  another,  the  publication  of  his  firstling  was 
postponed  from  year  to  year.  But  there  was  great 
jubilation  among  his  patrons  and  admirers  when 
Tonson's  offer  became  known.  "I  am  glad," 
wrote  Wycherley,  "  to  find  you  design  your  country 
beauty  of  a  Muse  shall  appear  at  Court  and  in 
public  to  outshine  all  the  farded,  lewd,  confident, 
and  affected  town-dowdies,  who  are  being  honoured 
only  for  their  shame." 

While    awaiting   his    introduction    to    the   public 

Pope  occupied  himself  in  making  translations  from 

Ovid  and  Statius,  paraphrasing  one  or  two    of  the 

"  Canterbury  Tales,"   and  working  at  his   drawing. 

The  greater  part  of  the  year  was  spent  at  Bin  field, 

but  he  was  occasionally  in  town  for    a   few    weeks 

at  a  time,  improving  his  acquaintance  with  the  wits 

and  rakes,  and  leading  a   life  which  had   the  worst 

effect  upon  what  Wycherley  called  his  "  little,  crazy, 

tender    carcase."     Though   he    lived   at   home    free 

of  charge  and    his    parents   allowed    him   to    invite 

his  new   friends   to   Binfield,    he   found   it   difficult, 

with     a    rapidly    increasing     acquaintance    and    new 

standards    of  living,    to  obtain   sufficient   funds  for 

current  expenses  from  the  parental  exchequer.     Thus 


From  a  mezzotint  engraving  after  the  paintings  by  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller. 

JACOB   TONSON. 


Life  at  Binfield  23 

early   in  July   1707   he  writes  a  letter    in   doggerel 
verse  to  Henry  Cromwell,  beginning  : 

I  had  to  see  you  some  intent 
But  for  a  curst  impediment, 
Which  spoils  full  many  a  good  design, 
That  is  to  say,  the  want  of  coin. 

He  paid  a  visit  to  Walsh  at  Abberly  Park 
towards  the  end  of  the  month,  and  probably  could 
not  afford  a  stay  in  town  as  well.  The  above 
letter  is  not  worth  quoting  further,  save  for  the 
following  lines,  which  contain  a  biographical  hint 
or  two  : 

To  end  with  news,  the  best  I  know 
Is,  I've  been  well  a  week  or  so. 
The  season  of  green  peas  is  fled, 
And  artichokes  reign  in  their  stead. 
The  Allies  to  bomb  Toulon  prepare ; 
God  save  the  pretty  ladies  there  ! 
One  of  our  dogs  is  dead  and  gone. 
And  I,  unhappy  !  left  alone. 

One  of  the  pleasantest  traits  in  Pope's  character 
was  his  love  for  animals,  and  there  Is  a  pretty 
little  passage  about  a  dog  in  one  of  his  letters  to 
Cromwell  :  "  You  are  to  know,  then,"  he  explains, 
"  that  as  It  Is  likeness  that  begets  affection,  so  my 
favourite  dog  Is  a  little  one,  a  lean  one,  and  none 
of  the  finest  shaped.  He  is  not  much  a  spaniel 
in  his  fawning,  but  has,  what  might  be  worth 
many  a  man's  while  to  imitate  from  him,  a  dumb, 
surly  sort  of  kindness,  that  rather  shows  itself  when 
he  thinks  me  ill-used  by  others  than  when  we  walk 
quietly  and  peaceably  by  ourselves.  If  It  be  the 
chief  point  of  friendship  to  comply  with  a  friend's 


24  Mr.  Pope 

motions  and  inclinations,  he  possesses  this  in  an 
eminent  degree  ;  he  lies  down  when  I  sit,  and 
walks  when  I  walk,  which  is  more  than  many  very 
good  friends  can  pretend  to — witness  our  walk  a 
year  ago  in  St.  James's  Park."  I 

Cromwell  solemnly  denied  the  possibility  of  a 
"  friendship  "  existing  between  a  dog  and  his  master, 
on  the  ground  that  the  one  could  never  be  the 
equal  in  intelligence  of  the  other.  But  Pope  replied 
that  there  was  no  such  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
friendly  relations  between  his  country  neighbours 
and  their  dogs. 

In  his  letters  Pope  took  the  greatest  pains  to 
adapt  himself  to  his  correspondents.  Thus  with 
Walsh  he  assumes  the  character  of  a  man  of  letters, 
and  with  Cromwell  that  of  a  man  of  the  world 
who  merely  amuses  himself  with  poetry  ;  while 
with  Wycherley  he  was  (till  he  grew  tired  of 
tinkering  with  the  "  damned  '  Miscellany '  ")  the 
grateful  disciple  and  humble  admirer.  Throughout 
his  correspondence  Pope  is  nearly  always  at  his  worst 
when  writing  to,  or  about,  women.  His  letters  to 
Cromwell  contain  many  allusions — gallant  or  other- 
wise— to  the  ladies  of  their  acquaintance.  Thus,  on 
quitting  London,  after  a  long  visit  in  the  spring 
of  1708,  he  assures  the  old  beau  that  he  envies 
the  town  for  nothing  except  that  his  friend  .remains 
there,  but  adds  : 

"  Yet  I  guess  you  will  expect  I  should  recant 
this  expression,  when  I  tell  you  that  Sappho  (by 
which  heathenish  name  you  have  christened  a  very 
orthodox  lady)  did  not  accompany  me  into  the 
country.     However,  1  will  confess  myself  the   less 


Life  at  Binfield  25 

concerned  on  that  account,  because  I  have  no  very 
violent  inclination  to  lose  my  heart,  especially  in 
so  wild  and  savage  a  place  as  this  forest  is.  In  the 
town  it  is  ten  to  one  but  a  young  fellow  may  find 
his  strayed  heart  again  with  some  Wild  Street  or 
Drury  Lane  damsel,  but  here  I  could  have  met 
with  no  redress  from  an  unmerciful  virtuous  dame. 
Well,  sir,  you  have  your  lady  in  the  town  still 
and  I  have  my  heart  in  the  country  still,  which, 
being  wholly  unemployed  as  yet,  has  the  more  room 
in  it  for  my  friends,  and  does  not  want  a  corner 
at  your  service.   .   .   ." 

The  **  Sappho "  here  mentioned  was  a  Mrs. 
Nelson,  a  lady  of  literary  tastes  who  lived  near 
Binfield  ;  but  another  Sappho  also  appears  in  the 
correspondence — a  Mrs.  Thomas  who  was  Cromwell's 
mistress  at  this  time.  Mrs.  Sappho- Nelson  soon 
followed  her  poet-friend  into  the  country,  for  on 
April  26  he  writes  :  "  I  made  no  question  but 
the  news  of  Sappho's  staying  behind  me  in  town 
would  surprise  you  ;  but  she  is  since  come  into  the 
country,  and,  to  surprise  you  more,  I  will  inform 
you  that  the  first  person  she  named  when  I  waited 
on  her  was  one  Mr.  Cromwell.  What  an  ascendant 
you  have  over  all  the  sex,  who  could  gain  the  fair 
one's  heart  by  appearing  before  her  in  a  long,  black, 
unpowdered  periwig  ;  nay.  without  so  much  as  the 
very  extremities  of  clean  linen  in  neckcloth  and 
cuffs  !  " 

Wycherley  was  invited  to  stay  at  Binfield  this 
summer,  but  neither  friendship  nor  fair  weather 
could  induce  him  to  quit  his  comfortable  quarters 
in    town.       Writing    in    November,    Pope    declares 


26  Mr.  Pope 

that  he  is  perfectly  contented  in  his  country  home, 
and  has  never  once  thought  of  the  town,  nor  inquired 
for  any  one  in  it,  except  Wycherley  and  Cromwell. 
The  latter,  he  doubts  not,  is  back  at  his  old  apart- 
ment in  the  Widow's  Corner,  ^  and  has  returned  to 
his  old  diversions  of  "  a  losing  game  at  piquet  with 
the  ladies,  and  half  a  play,  or  a  quarter  of  a  play,  at 
the  theatre,  where  you  are  none  of  the  malicious 
audience,  but  the  chief  of  amorous  spectators,  and 
for  the  infirmity  of  one  sense,  ^  which  could  only 
there  serve  to  disgust  you,  enjoy  the  vigour  of 
another  which  ravishes  you.  ...  So  you  have  the 
advantage  of  being  entertained  with  all  the  beauty 
of  the  boxes  without  being  troubled  with  any  of 
the  dulness  of  the  stage," 

With  Walsh,  meanwhile,  Pope  was  solemnly  dis- 
cussing the  technique  of  prosody.  He  was  anxious 
to  know  his  Mentor's  opinion  on  the  question  of 
borrowing  or  stealing  from  the  ancients,  and  also 
sought  advice  as  to  the  amount  of  "  wit  "  that  should 
be  admitted  into  a  pastoral.  Walsh  was  leniency  itself 
on  the  subject  of  borrowing,  declaring  that  "  the  best 
poets  in  all  languages  are  those  that  have  the  nearest 
copied  the  ancients."  With  regard  to  wit  and  fine 
writing  generally,  he  was  quite  sound,  observing 
that  *'  in  all  writings  whatsoever  (not  poetry  only) 
nature  is  to  be  followed  ;  and  we  should  be  jealous 
of  ourselves  for  being  fond  of  similes,  conceits,  and 
what  they  call  saying  fine  things.  When  we  were 
in  the  North,  my  Lord  Wharton  showed  me  a  letter 

^  The  widow  Hambleton,  who  kept  a  coffee-house  in  Prince's 
Street,  Drury  Lane. 
*  Cromwell  was  deaf. 


Life  at  Binfield  27 

he  had  received  from  a  certain  great  captain  in 
Spain.^  I  told  him  I  would  by  all  means  have  that 
general  recalled  and  set  to  writing  here  at  home, 
for  it  was  impossible  that  a  man  with  so  much  wit 
as  he  showed  could  be  fit  to  command  an  army,  or 
do  any  other  business." 

'  Lord  Peterborough,  who   disproved  Walsh's  theories  in   the 
campaigns  of  Barcelona  and  Valencia. 


CHAPTER    IV 

1709-10 

The  ^^  Pastorals  ^* 

nPHE  much-discussed  "  Pastorals,"  which  the 
■■'  publisher  had  kept  such  an  unconscionable 
time  waiting,  made  their  appearance  in  Tonson's 
"Sixth  Miscellany"  on  May  2,  1709.  The  four 
— Spring,  Summer,  Autumn  and  Winter — were 
dedicated  respectively  to  Sir  William  Trumbull, 
Dr.  Garth,  Mr.  Wycherley,  and  the  memory  of 
Mrs.  Tempest,  a  Yorkshire  lady  who  was  a  friend 
of  Walsh's.  Pope  afterwards  wrote  a  short  intro- 
duction in  prose,  from  which  it  appears  that  he 
shared  the  old  superstition  that  pastoral  poetry 
originated  in  some  idyllic  or  golden  age,  when  the 
tending  of  flocks  was  the  chief  employment  of 
mankind,  and  when  the  shepherds  amused  their 
leisure  with  songs  in  which  they  celebrated  their 
own  felicity.  The  modern  critic  denies  the  existence 
of  a  golden  age,  and  maintains  that  the  pastoral 
has  always  made  its  appearance  in  the  last  and 
most  decadent  stages  of  each  civilisation,  its  popu- 
larity being  due  to  the  longing  for  rustic  simplicity 
which  is  the  outcome  of  an  artificial  state  of  society. 
It  is  the  shepherd  (and  still  more  the  shepherdess) 

28 


The  *' Pastorals ''  29 

who  yearns  for  the  delights  of  cities  and  courts, 
while  men  of  fashion  and  town-bred  poets  envy 
the  simple  souls  who,  with  ribboned  crooks  and 
oaten  pipes,  are  supposed  to  lead  idyllic  lives  "  under 
the  hawthorn  in   the  dale." 

From  his  boyhood  Pope  had  ridden  through  the 
green  alleys  of  the  great  Forest,  wandered  by  the 
shining  Thames,  and  rambled  over  the  lovely  heaths 
that  surrounded  his  home,  but  it  does  not  appear 
that  he  had  ever  observed  nature  through  his  own 
eyes.  For  him  nature  was  something  that  had 
been  discovered,  if  not  created,  by  the  poets.  The 
country,  as  seen  through  classic  glasses,  was  inhabited  « 
by  nymphs,  fauns,  and  satyrs,  by  sighing  Strephons 
and  cruel  Chloes,  rather  than  by  uncouth  ploughmen 
and  blowsy  dairy-maids.  The  cattle  grazing  in 
the  field  were  for  him  transformed  into  sacrificial 
bulls,  the  harvestmen  quenched  their  thirst  with 
clusters  of  grapes  instead  of  flagons  of  beer,  while 
Jupiter,  Ceres,  Bacchus,  and  the  rest  of  the  Olympian 
crew  exercised  a  personal  influence  on  the  crops 
and  the  weather.  Throughout  his  life  Pope  pre-  ; 
ferred  "  nature  to  advantage  dressed "  to  nature 
in  the  raw,  and  felt  more  at  home  in  a  garden 
crammed  with  obelisks,  temples,  and  mock  ruins  ~ 
than  in   fields  or  forests.  / 

That  the  "  Pastorals  "  show  the  young  poet  in  the 
imitative  stage  was  only  to  be  expected.  A  boy 
who  reads  incessantly  leaves  himself  no  time  for  ~ 
thought  or  observation.  Not  only  was  there  no 
originality  of  idea  in  the  "  Pastorals,"  but,  as  Warton 
was  the  first  to  point  out,  there  was  not  a  single 
rural   image  that   was  new  ;   the  whole  might  have 


30  Mr.  Pope 

been  written  in  the  Widow  Hambleton's  cofFee- 
house.  But  the  boy  showed  amazing  dexterity  in 
fitting  the  thoughts  and  words  of  his  great  masters 
— whether  ancient  or  modern — into  a  mosaic  of 
his  own  pattern.  It  was  the  manner,  far  more 
than  the  matter,  that  commended  the  "  Pastorals  " 
to  Pope's  contemporaries.  The  young  man  may 
have  learnt  his  versification  from  Dryden,  but  he 
had  made  the  tune  his  ov/n,  and,  like  a  modern 
Orpheus,  he  set  the  whole  world  dancing  to  it. 
Macaulay  declares  that,  from  the  time  when  the 
"  Pastorals  "  appeared,  heroic  versification  became  a 
matter  of  rule  and  compass,  and  before  long  all 
artists  were  on  a  level.  "  Hundreds  of  dunces  who 
never  blundered  on  one  happy  thought  or  expression 
were  able  to  write  reams  of  couplets  which,  as  tar 
as  euphony  was  concerned,  could  not  be  distinguished 
from  those  of  Pope  himself."  ^  This,  of  course, 
is  the  exaggeration  of  prejudice.  It  may  be  easy 
enough  to  turn  out  heroic  couplets  of  the  most 
approved  pattern,  but  it  is  quite  another  thing  to 
produce  poetry  in  the  same  measure  that  is  at  once 
brilliant,  forcible,  and  melodious.  Pope  chose  to 
play  on  one  string,  but  his  music  was  unapproached 
by  any  of  his  contemporaries. 

A  host  of  imitators  may  have  dulled  modern  ears 
to  his  melody,  and  even  brought  his  instrument  into 
disrepute,   but  two   hundred   years  ago   men   stood 

^  Macaulay  probably  had    Cowper's   lines   about    Pope  in   his 
mind  : 

But  he  (his  musical  finesse  was  such 
So  nice  his  ear,  so  delicate  his  touch) 
Made  poetry  a  new  mechanic  art, 
And  every  warbler  has  his  tune  by  heart. 


The  '*  Pastorals ''  31 

still  to  listen  when '  a  young  poet  lifted  up  his  voice 
and  sang  : 

Go,  gentle  gales,  and  bear  my  sighs  away  ! 

To  Delia's  ear  the  tender  notes  convey. 

As  some  sad  turtle  his  lost  love  deplores. 

And  with  deep  murmurs  fills  the  sounding  shores  ; 

Thus,  far  from  Delia,  to  the  winds  I  mourn, 

Alike  unheard,  unpitied,  and  forlorn. 

Go,  gentle  gales,  and  bear  my  sighs  along ! 
The  birds  shall  cease  to  tune  their  evening  song, 
The  winds  to  breathe,  the  waving  woods  to  move, 
The  streams  to  murmur,  ere  I  cease  to  love. 

Not  bubbling  fountains  to  the  thirsty  swain, 
Not  balmy  sleep  to  lab'rers  faint  with  pain. 
Not  showers  to  larks,  or  sunshine  to  the  bee, 
Are  half  so  charming  as  thy  sight  to  me. 

What  could  be  more  musical  or  more  melancholy  ? 
But  to  the  modern  taste  the  melody  of  the  lines  is 
less  remarkable  than  the  conventionality  of  the 
sentiment.  Even  contemporary  critics  could  perceive 
the  artificiality  of  the  "  Pastorals."  The  gods  and 
goddesses  that  the  poet  transported  to  the  banks  of 
the  Thames  had  been  somewhat  overworked  during 
the  preceding  century,  and  the  Berkshire  local  colour, 
with  its  satyrs,  milk-white  bulls,  and  clustering 
vines/  struck  some  carping  spirits  as  wanting  in 
realism.  Pope  accused  his  rival,  Ambrose  PhiHps, 
of  making  roses,  lilies,  and  daffodils  bloom  in  the 

^  Pope  satirises  his  own  early  efforts  in   the  "  Epistle    to   Dr. 
Arbuthnot"  : 

Like  gentle  Fanny's  was  my  flowery  theme, 
A  painted  mistress,  or  a  purling  stream. 


32  Mr.  Pope 

same     seasoh,    but    he    was    himself    guilty    of  the 
couplet  : 

Here  the  bright  crocus  and  blue  vi'let  glow, 
Here  western  winds  on  breathing  roses  blow. 

That     practical    gardener,    the    elder     Pope,    might 

have  criticised  these  lines  with  advantage.     But  the 

most    irritating    fault   in   these   early    poems    is   one^ 

which  disfigures  so  much  of  the  eighteenth-century    ' 

literature,   namely,  a  disinclination  to  call  things  or 

people  by  their  proper  names.     For  example,  in  the 

"Pastorals,"  birds  are  the  "feathered  quire,"   sheep 

are  the  "fleecy  breed,"  and,    worse  still,   a  garden' 

becomes  "  the  vegetable  care." 

Tonson's   "  Miscellany "    contained    a   paraphrase 

of  Chaucer's  "  January  and  May  "  by  Pope,  pieces 

by  Rowe    and  Garth,   and  a    rival   set   of  pastorals 

by  Ambrose  Philips.     Wycherley,  who  had  already 

paid  what  he  called  a  "  damned  fine  compliment  "  in 

verse   upon   the  appearance  of  Pope's  "  Pastorals," 

wrote  on  May    17    to  thank   his  young  friend  for 

a  copy  of  the  "  Miscellany  "  and  to  assure  him  that 

nothing  had  been  better  received  by  the  public  than 

his  part  in  it.     In  fact,  he  had  displeased  the  critics 

by  pleasing  them  too  well,  having  left  them  not  a 

word  to  say  for  themselves.     "  Your  Miscellanies," 

he  adds,  "  have  safely  run  the  gauntlet  through  all 

the  coffee-houses    which  are   now  entertained    with 

a    whimsical     new    newspaper,    called     The     'Tatler^ 

which   I   suppose  you  have  seen,  and  is  written  by 

one    Steele,    who    thinks    himself  sharp    upon    this 

Iron  Age,  since  an  Age  of  War,  and  who  likewise 

1  The  Tatler  was  started  by  Steele,  with  Addison's  assistance, 
on  April  12th,  1709. 


The  *' Pastorals '*  33 

writes  the  other  gazettes,  and  this  under  the  name 
of  '  Bickerstaff.'  " 

Pope  modestly  replied  that  this  modern  custom 
of  appearing  in  Miscellanies  was  very  useful  to  the 
poets,  who,  like  other  thieves,-^  escaped  by  getting 
into  a  crowd,  and,  herded  together  like  banditti,  safe 
only  in  their  multitude.  He  could  be  satisfied  to 
lose  his  time  without  losing  his  reputation.  ■  "  As 
for  getting  any,  I  am  as  indifferent  in  the  matter  as 
Falstaif  was,  and  may  say  of  fame  as  he  did  of 
honour  :  '  If  it  comes,  it  comes  unlooked-for  ;  and 
there's  an  end  on't.'  I  can  be  content  with  a  bare 
saving  gain,  without  being  thought  '  an  eminent 
hand,'  with  which  little  Jacob  [Tonson]  has 
graciously  dignified  his  adventurers  and  volunteers 
in  poetry." 

The  friendship  between  the  old  dramatist  and  the 
youthful  poet  came  to  an  untimely  end.  It  has 
generally  been  believed  that  Wycherley  was  annoyed 
because  Pope  criticised  his  verses  too  frankly. 
Wycherley  had  desired  that  any  repetitions  of  word 
or  sense  should  be  marked  in  the  margin  of  his 
manuscripts,  without  defacing  the  copy.  Pope,  if 
we  may  accept  his  letter  as  genuine,  replied  with 
some  asperity  that  Wycherley  had  better  take  back 
his  manuscript,  since  merely  to  mark  the  "  repeti- 
tions "  would  in  no  way  rectify  the  method,  connect 
the  matter,  or  improve  the  poetry  in; expression  or 
numbers.  "  As  I  have  often  told  you,"  he  con- 
cludes,   "  it   is   my   sincere  opinion   that  the  greater 

This  is  probably  intended  to  disarm  criticism,  since  the 
"  Pastorals "  consist,  in  great  part,  of  paraphrases  of  the 
"  Eclogues  "  of  Virgil. 

VOL.    I  3 


34  Mr.  Pope 

part  would  make  a  much  better  figure  as  single 
maxims  and  reflections  in  prose,  after  the  manner  of 
your  favourite  Rochefoucault,  than  in  verse."  This 
advice  could  hardly  have  been  very  palatable,  but 
that  Wycherley  meekly  followed  it  is  proved  by  the 
three  hundred  and  eight  maxims  in  prose  which 
were  found  among  his  papers  after  his  death. 

There  is  no  trace  of  resentment  in  Wycherley's 
original  letters,  and  Pope  admitted  to  Cromwell 
that  the  coolness  had  been  partly  caused  by  the 
mahcious  untruths  which  some  evilly  disposed 
person  had  insinuated  to  Mr.  Wycherley.^  "  If  so," 
he  adds,  "  he  [Wycherley]  will  have  a  greater 
punishment  than  I  could  wish  him  in  that  fellow's 
acquaintance.  The  loss  of  a  faithful  creature  is 
something,  though  of  never  so  contemptible  a  one  ; 
and  if  I  were  to  change  my  dog  for  such  a  man  as  the 
aforesaid,  I  should  think  my  dog  under-valued,  who 
follows  me  about  as  constantly  here  in  the  country, 
as  I  was  used  to  do  Mr.  Wycherley  in  town." 

During  the  summer  of  1710  the  young  poet 
suffered  from  a  long  illness,  contracted  in  London, 
where  the  life  may  have  been  stimulating  to 
his  mind  but  was  certainly  injurious  to  his  body. 
This  was  the  eventful  moment  when  the  Whig 
dynasty  fell  with  a  crash,  when  the  Marlboroughs 
were  disgraced,  and  Harley  and  St.  John  rose  to 
supreme  power.  Pope  had  not  yet  received 
Addison's  advice,  "  not  to  be  content  with  the  praises 
of  half  the  nation  "  ;  but  then,  and  for  many  years 
to  come,  he  kept  clear  of  politics,  and  made  friends 
with  "  useful  people  "  of  both  parties.     Of  course, 

^  Probably  Gildon. 


The  ''Pastorals''  35 

as  a  Catholic,  he  could  not  expect  to  supplement 
his  scanty  earnings  by  a  comfortable  '*  place,"  like  so 
many  of  his  literary  friends,  but  then  he  was  spared 
the  misery  of  hope  deferred  and  the  indignity  of 
dancing  attendance  in  the  ante-chambers  of  the  great. 

When  once  the  poet  had  set  up  as  a  man  about 
town,  he  found  the  simple  ways  and  strict  piety  of 
life  at  Binfield  something  of  a  bore.     But  he  had 
already  acquired  the  habit  of  being  all  things  to  all 
men,  though  less  with  a  view  to  their  salvation  than 
his  own  convenience.     Thus,  in  a  letter  to  CromwelLX 
dated    April     10,    he    apologised    for     not    having  \ 
written  sooner,  but  explained  that  he  had  scrupled/^ 
to  send  profane  things  in  Holy  Week. 

"  Besides,  our  family  would  have  been  scandalised 
to  see  me  write,  who  take  it  for  granted  I  write 
nothing  but  ungodly  verses  ;  and  they  say  here  so 
many  prayers  that  I  can  make  but  few  poems  ;  for 
in  this  matter  of  praying  I  am  an  occasional  con- 
formist. So,  just  as  I  am  drunk  or  scandalous  in 
town,  according  to  my  company,  I  am  for  the  same 
reason  grave  or  godly  here.  I  assure  you  I  am 
looked  on  in  the  neighbourhood  for  a  very  sober 
and  well-disposed  person  ;  no  great  hunter  indeed, 
but  a  great  esteemer  of  the  noble  sport,  and  only 
unhappy  in  my  want  of  constitution  for  that  and 
drinking.  They  all  say  'tis  pity  I  am  so  sickly,  and 
I  think  'tis  pity  they  are  so  healthy  ;  but  I  say 
nothing  that  may  destroy  their  good  opinion  of  me. 
I  have  not  quoted  one  Latin  author  since  I  came 
down,  but  have  learned  without  book  a  song  of 
Mr.  Thomas  Durfey's,  who  is  your  only  poet  of 
tolerable  reputation  in  this  county." 


">, 


CHAPTER   V 

1711 
The  **  Essay  on  Criticism 


tt 


THE  "  Essay  on  Criticism  "  was  completed,  except 
for  the  usual  retouching  and  polishing,  as 
early  as  1709/  but  it  was  not  published  till  171 1. 
Pope  tells  us  that  he  first  digested  all  his  material 
in  prose,  and  then  versified  it  with  great  rapidity. 
The  Essay  was  regarded  as  a  masterpiece  by  the 
eighteenth-century  critics,  Johnson  going  so  far  as 
to  declare  that  the  work  exhibited  "  every  mode  of 
excellence  that  can  embellish  or  dignify  didactic 
composition — selection  of  matter,  novelty  of  arrange- 
ment, justness  of  precept,  splendour  of  illustration, 
and  propriety  of  digression."  A  reaction  took  place 
in  the  critical  opinion  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
De  Quincey  describes  the  Essay  as  "  a  mere 
versification,  like  a  metrical  multiplication-table,  of 
commonplaces  the  most  mouldy  with  which  criticism 
has  baited  its  rat-traps."  The  maxims,  he  contends, 
have  no  natural  order  or  logical  dependency,  and 
are  generally  so  vague  as  to  mean  nothing,  while 
many  of  the  rules  are  violated  by  no  man  so  often 
as  by  Pope  himself. 

^  Pope  has  not  always  kept  to  the  same  story  about  the  year 
in  which  the  Essay  was  written,  but  1709  is  the  date  usually  given, 

36 


The  ^* Essay  on  Criticism**  37 

Criticism  so  harsh  as  this  fails  to  take  into 
account  the  period  at  which  the  Essay  appeared 
and  the  conditions  under  which  it  was  composed. 
It  was  not  put  forward  as  a  definitive  treatise  on 
criticism,  but  was  literally  an  "  attempt  "  to  methodise 
the  chaotic  contents  of  the  young  poet's  mind,  the 
results  of  desultory  study  and  undisciplined  thought. 
We  see  him  trying  to  "  hammer  out  "  his  literary  » 
faith,  to  formulate  a  critical  creed  that  would  be 
helpful  both  to  himself  and  others,  and  incidentally 
to  give  a  practical  definition  of  that  blessed  word 
"  correctness."  He  is  not  always  sure  of  his  own 
meaning,  he  cannot  always  make  it.  clear  to  the 
reader,  but  when  it  is  remembered  that  there  were 
at  this  time  no  native  works  dealing  with  the 
principles  and  technicalities  of  criticism,  it  will  be 
understood  that  Pope's  "  mouldy  truisms "  may 
have  been  regarded  as  brilliant  epigrams  or  startling 
paradoxes  by  the  public  of  his  own  day. 

Pope  follows  the  lead  of  his  master,  Dryden,  in 
attacking  the  false  wit,  the  glittering  conceits,  and 
strained  similes  of  the  so-called  metaphysical  poets, 
among  whom  Donne,  Cowley,  and  Crashaw  were 
conspicuous.  Dryden's  famous  Prefaces  had  pre- 
pared the  way  for  a  poetical  reformation.  The 
absurdities  and  extravagances  of  the  Euphuists  and 
the  metaphysical  school  were  already  discredited,  and 
the  public  taste,  wearied  of  intellectual  gymnastics  -' 
and  jugglery,  showed  a  reaction  in  favour  of  classical 
methods  and  classical  ideals. 

The  inevitable  swing  of  the  pendulum  is  repre- 
sented in  the  "  Essay  on  Criticism."  Here  we  have 
the  very  apotheosis  of  "  True  Wit  and  Good  Sense  "  ; 


38  Mr.  Pope 

but    the    poet,   as  he    gropes    his  way   towards    the 
light,    is    not    always    quite    clear    which    is    which. 
"  Sense "    is    represented  as   the   supreme  virtue    as 
well  as  the  highest  attribute  of  reason,  while  "  wit  " 
is  a  thing  of  Protean  quality,  which  appears  under 
a    dozen    different    disguises.^      Pope    was    not    by 
nature  or  training  well  qualified  for  the  production 
of  a  long,  didactic  work.      His  "  staying  power  "  was 
slight,  and  there  is  no  sign  that  he  had  ever  studied 
the    science    of  logic,    at    least    with    any    idea    of 
applying  its   rules   to   his  own   reasoning.      He    has 
been    described   as  the  most  inconsequential   of   all 
didactic  poets  in  the  deduction  of  his  thoughts,  and 
the  most  severely  distressed  in  any  effort  to  explain 
the  dependency  of  their  parts.      "  All  his  thinking," 
to  quote  de  Quincey  again,  "proceeded  by  insulated 
and  discontinuous  fits,    and   the    only    resource  for 
him,  or  chance  of  even  seeming  correctness,  lay  in 
the  liberty  of  stringing  his  aphoristic  thoughts,  like 
pearls,    having    no    relation  to  each  other  but  that 
of   contiguity."     Epigram,    however,    is    commonly 
accepted  as  an  excellent  substitute  for  argument,  and 
in  the  eighteenth   century    it  became    customary  to 
drive    a    point    home    with    a    couplet    from    Pope. 
The   couplet  might  not  stand  a  searching  analysis, 
but  its  brilliancy  was    apt   to  dazzle  and  confound 
pure  reason. 

The  "  Essay  on  Criticism "  probably  contains 
more  "quotations"  in  proportion  to  its  length  than 
any    other    work    of   Pope's,    and    it    may    not    be 

^  Mr.  Elwin  points  out  that  we  find  "wit"  doing  duty  as 
the  intellect,  the  judgment,  the  antithesis  to  judgment,  a  joke,  and 
poetry  ! 


The  ^* Essay  on  Criticism^*  39 

uninteresting  to  people  who  have  been  "  talking 
Pope  "  all  their  lives  without  knowing  it  to  discover 
the  source  of  certain  now  proverbial  phrases,  and 
to  read  them  in  their  proper  context.  The  Essay 
opens  with  a  witty  description  of  false  and  foolish 
critics,  which  may  be  summed  up  in  the  familiar 
couplet  : 

Some  have  at  first  for  wits,  then  poets  passed, 
Turned  critics  next,  and  proved  plain  fools  at  last. 

But  the  true  critic,  who  seeks  to  give  and  merit 
fame,  is  urged  to  follow  nature  and  frame  his 
judgment  by  her  just  standard. 

Those  rules  of  old  discovered,  not  devised, 
Are  nature  still,  but  nature  methodised; 
Nature,  like  liberty,  is  but  restrained 
By  the  same  laws  which  first  herself  ordained. 

But,  apparently,  the  only  way  to  follow  nature  is 
to  become  intimately  acquainted  with  the  rehgion, 
country,  genius,  and  character  of  the  ancients. 

Be  Homer's  works  your  study  and  delight. 
Read  them  by  day,  and  meditate  by  night. 

Though  the  critic  is  to  learn  for  ancient  rules 
a  just  esteem,  he  must  recognise  that  a  "master- 
hand  "  may  deviate  from  the  common  track,  since — 

Great  wits  sometimes  may  gloriously  offend, 
And  rise  to  faults  true  critics  dare  not  mend ; 
From  vulgar  bounds  with  brave  disorder  part, 
And  snatch  a  grace  beyond  the  reach  of  art. 

Part  I.  concludes  with  an  invocation  to  the 
"  bards  triumphant  "  who  were  born  in  happier  days, 
and  the  pious  prayer — 


40  Mr.  Pope 

O  may  some  spark  of  your  celestial  fire, 

The  last,  the  meanest  of  your  sons  inspire 

(That  on  weak  wings,  from  far,  pursues  your  flights ; 

Glows  while  he  reads,  but  trembles  as  he  writes), 

To  teach  vain  wits  a  science  little  known, 

T'  admire  superior  sense,  and  doubt  their  own  ! 

In  Part  II.  the  critic  is  shown  the  causes  that 
hinder  true  judgment,  such  as  Pride,  Envy,  Pre- 
judice, Party  Spirit,  and  Imperfect  Knowlege.  It 
is  in  connection  with  the  last  mentioned  that  our  old 
acquaintance  comes  in  : 

A  little  knowledge  is  a  dangerous  thing  ; 
Drink  deep,  or  taste  not  the  Pierian  spring  : 
There  shallow  draughts  intoxicate  the  brain. 
And  drmking  largely  sobers  us  again. 

After  giving  some  examples  of  dull  or  malignant 
critics,  the  poet  explains  that — 

True  wit  is  nature  to  advantage  dressed  ; 

What  oft  was  thought,  but  ne'er  so  weil  expressed. 

Some  critics,  it  is  pointed  out,  care  only  for 
the  style  of  a  poet,  and  some  for  the  music  of  his 
song.  Others,  again,  swear  only  by  foreign  writers, 
and  despise  the  native  breed  : 

Thus  wit,  like  faith,  by  each  man  is  applied 
To  one  small  sect,  and  all  are  damned  beside. 

The  author  is  most  severe,  however,  upon  the 
servile  critic  who  is  a  hanger-on  of  great  men, 
and  only  lives  to  fetch  and  carry  nonsense  for 
my  lord. 

What  woeful  stuff  this  madrigal  would  be 
In  some  starved  hackney  sonneteer  or  me ! 


The  ^^ Essay  on  Criticism**  41 

But  let  a  lord  once  own  the  happy  lines, 
,    ^  How  the  wit  brightens  !  how  the  style  refines  !  ^ 

'  Pope  was  always  given  to  damning  the  sins  he 
was  himself  inclined  to,  and  therefore,  though  his 
rhymes  were  his  weakest  point,  it  is  not  surprising 
to  find  him  making  merry  at  the  expense  of  the 
poetaster  who  indulged  in  feeble  or  commonplace 
rhymes.  The  following  lines  might  have  been 
written  about  his  own  "  Pastorals  "  : 

Where'er  you  find  "  the  cooling  western  breeze," 
In  the  next  line  it  "  whispers  through  the  trees"  ; 
If  crystal  streams  "  with  pleasing  murmurs  creep," 
The  reader's  threatened,  not  in  vain,  with  "  sleep." 

His  own  indifference  to  good  rhymes  is  shown 
in  another  couplet  which  conveys  a  precept  that  he 
never  practised  : 

Leave  dangerous  truths  to  unsuccessful  satires, 
And  flattery  to  fulsome  dedicators. 

And  again  : 

Good  nature  and  good  sense  must  ever  join  ; 
To  err  is  human  ;  to  forgive  divine. 

The  noble  minds  are  to  discharge  their  rage  on 
such  unpardonable  crimes  as  irreligion  and  obscenity. 
In  a  brilliant  passage  the  poet  holds  up  to  con- 
demnation the  licentious  times  that  followed  the 
Restoration  : 

When  love  was  all  an  easy  monarch's  care ; 
Seldom  at  Council,  never  in  a  war. 
Jilts  ruled  the  State,  and  statesmen  farces  writ ; 
Nay,  wits  had  pensions,  and  young  lords  had  wit 

^  Pope  himself  seems  to  have  been  blinded  by  Granville's  rank 
to  the  weakness  of  Granville's  verse. 


42  Mr.  Pope 

The  fair  sat  panting  at  a  courtier's  play, 
And  not  a  mask  went  unimproved  away  ; 
The  modest  fan  was  lifted  up  no  more, 
And  virgins  smiled  at  what  they  blushed  before. 

Part  III.  gives  rules  for  the  conduct  of  a 
critic — modesty,  candour,  sincerity,  and  good-breed- 
ings— together  with  a  brief  history  of  criticism  and 
the  characters  of  famous  critics.  Referring  to  the 
*' bookful  blockhead,  ignorantly  read,"  the  poet 
exclaims 

No  place  so  sacred  from  such  fops  is  barred. 

Nor  is  Paul's  church  more  safe  than  Paul's  churchyard.^ 

Nay,  fly  to  altars  ;  ^  there  they'll  talk  you  dead  : 

For  fools  rush  in  where  angels  fear  to  tread. 

The  ideal  critic,  who  alone  can  bestow  valuable 
counsel,  is  pleased  to  teach,  but  not  too  proud  to 
learn  : 

Unbiassed,  or  by  favour  or  by  spite  ; 

Not  dully  prepossessed  nor  blindly  right ; 

Though  learn'd,  well-bred  ;  and  though  well-bred,  sincere ; 

Modestly  bold,  and  humanly  severe. 

Such  critics  there  had  been  in  ancient  days,  from 
the  time  when  "  the  mighty  Stagyrite  ^  first  left 
the  shore."  Horace  had  charmed  men  into  sense, 
Dionysius  had  refined  on  Homer's  thoughts,  in 
grave  Quintilian  might  be  found  the  "justest  rules 

^  Down  to  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  body  of 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral  was  the  common  resort  of  the  politicians,  the 
newsmongers,  and  the  idle  in  general.  It  was  called  "  Paul's 
Walk."— [Pennant.] 

■  This  is  imitated  from  some  lines  of  Boileau,  which  allude  to 
the  impertinence  of  a  French  poet,  Du  Perrier,  who  insisted  on 
reciting  an  ode  to  him  during  the  elevation  of  the  host. 

»  Aristotle,  who  was  called  the  Stagyrite  because  he  was  bom 
at  Stagyra. 


The  **  Essay  on  Criticism  **  43 

and  clearest  method  joined,"  while  bold  Longinus 
"  with  warmth  gives  sentence,  yet  is  always  just." 

But  then  followed  the  dark  ages  that  "  saw 
learning  fall  and  Rome,"  when  tyranny  enslaved  the 
body  and  superstition  the  mind,  till — 

At  length  Erasmus,  that  great  injured  name, 
(The  glory  of  the  priesthood  and  the  shame  !) 
Stemmed  the  wild  torrent  of  a  barb'rous  age, 
And  drove  those  holy  Vandals  off  the  stage. 

The   poet  passes   on   to   the  golden   days   of  the 

Renaissance,   when  "  a  Raphael  painted  and  a  Vida 

sung  " — 

Immortal  Vida  !  on  whose  honoured  brow 
The  poet's  bays  and  critic's  ivy  grow. 

Chased  from  Latium,-^  the  Muses  overstepped  their 
ancient  boundaries,  and  the  arts  were  introduced  into 
the  northern  world  : 

But  critic-learning  flourished  most  in  France  ; 
The  rules  a  nation,  born  to  serve,  obeys ; 
And  Boileau  still  in  right  of  Horace  sways. 

The  Britons  despised  these  foreign  laws,  and,  fierce 
for  the  liberties  of  wit,  remained  unconquered  and 
.uncivilised.  A  few  there  were,  however,  of  sounder 
judgment  who  asserted  the  truth  of  the  ancient 
cause — "and  here  restored  wit's  fundamental  laws." 
Among  these  are  cited  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,^ 
Roscommon^  and  Walsh,  "the  Muse's  judge  and 
friend."     Pope  has  been  condemned  for  mentioning 

^  According  to  Warburton,  Pope  refers  to  the  sack  of  Rome  by 
the  Duke  of  Bourbon,  which,  he  suggests,  had  driven  poetry  out 
of  Italy. 

2  On  account  of  his  "Art  of  Poetry." 

^  On  account  of  his  "  Essay  on  Translated  Verse." 


44  Mr*  Pope 

these  minor  writers  and  ignoring  all  the  great  poets 
of  recent  times  save  Dryden,  but  obviously  he 
quoted  the  names  of  the  few  English  authors  who 
had  concerned  themselves  with  the  principles  of 
literary  criticism.  It  is  at  the  end  of  his  panegyric 
on  Walsh  that  Pope  introduced  the  egoistical  "  tag  " 
with  which  so  many  of  his  early  works  conclude. 
As  this  passage  is  interesting  from  the  personal 
point  of  view,  it  may  be  quoted  at  length  : 

This  humble  praise,  lamented  shade/  receive  ! 
This  praise  at  least  a  grateful  muse  may  give. 
The  muse,  whose  early  voice  you  taught  to  sing, 
Prescribed  her  heights,  and  pruned  her  tender  wing 
(Her  guide  now  lost),  no  more  attempts  to  rise, 
But  in  low  numbers  short  excursions  tries  ; 
Content,  if  hence  th'  unlearned  their  wants  may  view, 
The  learn'd  reflect  on  what  before  they  knew  : 
Careless  of  censure,  nor  too  fond  of  fame  ; 
Still  pleased  to  praise,  yet  not  afraid  to  blame, 
Averse  alike  to  flatter,  or  offend ; 
Not  free  from  faults,  nor  yet  too  vain  to  mend. 

The  "  Essay  on  Criticism  "  had  no  immediate 
popular  success.  It  was  published  anonymously, 
and  hung  fire  for  the  first  three  or  four  weeks. 
At  length  the  poet  sent  round  copies  to  several 
"  noblemen  of  taste,"  and,  the  authorship  becoming 
known,  a  vivid  interest  was  presently  aroused  in 
the  piece.  Pope  declared  that  he  did  not  expect 
a  thousand  copies  to  sell,  since  "  not  one  gentleman 
in  sixty,  even  of  liberal  education,  could  understand 
it."  This  does  not  say  much  for  the  intelligence  of 
the  gentlemen  of  the  period.  The  gospel  of  "  good 
sense  "  preached  throughout  the  poem  was  received 

^  Walsh  had  died  in  1708,  aged  49. 


The  **  Essay  on  Criticism  **  45 

with  extraordinary  fervour,  and  as  time  went  on 
made  innumerable  converts — not  to  say  devotees. 
The  seed  sown  by  Pope  had  fallen  on  good  ground 
and  multiplied  an  hundredfold,  insomuch  that 
throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  eighteenth  century 
"  good  sense  "  was  the  accepted  religion  of  the  " 
nation.  The  English  people  is  never  happy  without 
a  catch-word  or  catch-phrase  which  is  sufficiently 
elastic  to  be  of  almost  universal  application  and 
sufficiently  vague  to  be  interpreted  according  to  in- 
dividual pleasure  or  convenience.  Pope  contributed 
an  enormous  number  of  catch-phrases  to  the  general 
stock,  with  the  result  that  he  was  unofficially  elected  .. 
"  Moralist  in  Chief"  to  the  British  nation. 

The  amount  of  Jearning  displayed  in  the  Essay 
was  regarded  as  almost  miraculous,  considering  the 
age  of  the  author.  How  was  it  possible  that  "  one 
small  head  could  carry  all  he  knew  "  ?  Even  Hazlitt 
professed  himself  unable  to  account  for  the  phe- 
nomenon, save  on  the  supposition  that  "  men  of 
genius  spend  the  rest  of  their  lives  in  teaching 
others  what  they  themselves  have  learned  under 
twenty."  It  was  reserved  for  a  modern  critic  of 
the  anti-Popish  school,  ^  to  point  out  that  the  poet 
in  his  boyhood  had  read  a  number  of  French  critical 
works,  and  had  been  especially  impressed  by  the 
writings  of  Racine  and  Bossu,  whose  treatises  were 
shallow  productions,  compounded  of  truisms,  pedantic 
fallacies,  and  doctrines  borrowed  from  antiquity. 
A  good  deal  of  the  classical  information  embodied 
in  the  Essay  might  have  been  picked  up  from 
these  French  manuals  in  a  single  morning.  It 
^  The  late  Mr.  Whitwell  Elwin. 


46  Mr.  Pope 

is  tolerably  clear  that  Pope  had  not  read  all  the 
classical  authors  whom  he  cites,  or  he  would  not 
have  penned  the  couplet  :    ^ 

Fancy  and  art  in  gay  Petronius  please, 

The  scholar's  learning  with  the  courtier's  ease. 

But  whatever  the  extent  or  the  limitation  of 
Pope's  reading,  the  fact  remains  that  he  had  dis- 
played in  this  new  poem  a  style  which,  in  point 
and  brilliancy,  surpassed  that  of  any  other  living 
writer.  A  certain  impetus  was  given  to  the  circula- 
tion of  the  new  work  by  the  appearance  of  a  violent 
pamphlet  by  John  Dennis,  ^  the  critic,  entitled, 
"  Reflections,  Critical  and  Satyrical,  upon  a  late 
Rhapsody  called  'An  Essay  on  Criticism.'  "  Dennis 
and  Blackmore  were  the  only  living  writers  satirised 
in  the  Essay  ;  Dennis  because,  it  is  supposed,  he  had 
adversely  criticised  Pope's  "Pastorals,"  andBlackmore 
because  he  had  attacked  Dryden.  The  offending 
lines  were  impertinent  rather  than  actually  malicious. 
After  urging  the  desirability  of  critical  candour,  the 
poet  proceeds  : 

^  John  Dennis  (1657-1734).  Though  only  the  son  of  a  saddler, 
he  was  educated  at  Harrow  and  Caius  College,  Cambridge.  He 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  by  writing 
in  favour  of  the  war,  and  was  given  a  place  as  royal  waiter  in  the 
Port  of  London.  He  wrote  poems  in  the  Pindaric  style,  tragedies, 
comedies,  and  critical  pamphlets.  He  published  in  1703  a  treatise 
on  "  The  Danger  of  Priestcraft  to  Religion  and  Government,"  which 
was  probably  one  of  the  reasons  why  Pope  attacked  him.  He 
brought  out  "The  Impartial  Critic"  in  1693,  and  "The  Advance- 
ment and  Reformation  of  Modern  Poetry"  in  1703.  His  tragedy 
Appius  and  Virginia  had  a  short  run  at  Drury  Lane  in  1709,  and 
early  in  171 1  he  published  "Three  Letters  on  the  Genius  of 
Shaicespeare."  Dennis  was  no  doubt  angry  that  Pope  had  not 
mentioned  him  among  those  literary  critics  who  had  "restored 
wit's  fundamental  laws." 


The  **  Essay  on  Criticism  *  47 

'Twere  well  might  critics  still  this  freedom  take, 
But  Appius  reddens  at  each  word  you  speak, 
And  stares,  tremendous,  with  a  threatening  eye,    ^ 
Like  some  fierce  tyrant  in  old  tapestry.  -^ 

Appius  was  the  hero  of  Dennis's  unsuccessful 
tragedy,  and  his  favourite  literary  epithet  was 
"  tremendous,"  The  old  critic  was  infuriated  by 
what  he  described  as  an  insult  to  his  person,  and 
he  lost  no  time  in  concocting  a  reply.  In  the 
pamphlet,  which  appeared  on  June  20,  Pope, 
for  the  first  time,  was  subjected  to  scurrilous 
abuse  in  the  guise  of  criticism,  Dennis  begins  by 
complaining  that  he  found  himself  "  attacked,  with- 
out any  manner  of  provocation  on  his  side,  and 
attacked  in  his  person  instead  of  his  writings,  by  one 
who  was  wholly  a  stranger  to  him,  at  a  time  when 
all  the  world  knew  he  was  persecuted  by  fortune  ; 
and  not  only  saw  that  this  was  attempted  in  a 
clandestine  manner,  with  the  utmost  falsehood  and 
calumny,  but  found  that  all  this  was  done  by  a 
little  affected  hypocrite,  who  had  nothing  in  his 
mouth,  at  the  same  time,  but  truth,  candour,  friend- 
ship, good  nature,  humanity,  and  magnanimity." 
He  declares  that  this  young  raw  author  had  rashly 
undertaken  a  task  beyond  his  powers,  had  borrowed 
from  living  and  dead,  frequently  contradicted  him- 
self, and  was  almost  perpetually  in  the  wrong. 

Among  the  blunders  pointed  out  by  Dennis  was 
one  at  least  which  Pope  thought  worth  correcting, 
the  "  bull  "  contained  in  the  following  lines  : 

What  is  this  wit  ?  ...  . 

Where  wanted,  scorned,  and  envied  where  acquired. 


1/ 


48  Mr.  Pope 

Wit  could  not,  of  course,  be  scorned  where  it  did 
not  exist,  unless  indeed  by  the  person  who  wanted  it/ 
But   the  personal  criticism  was   far  more  violent 
and    abusive    than    the    literary    criticism.      Among 
•^  other    amenities,    Pope    is    described    as  a  "  hunch- 

backed toad."  "  I  remember,"  proceeds  the  enraged 
critic,  "a  little  gentleman  whom  Mr.  Walsh  used 
to  take  into  his  company,  as  a  double  foil  to  his 
person  and  capacity.  Inquire  between  Sunninghill 
and  Oakingham  for  a  young,  short,  squat  gentleman, 
the  very  bow  of  the  god  of  love,  and  tell  me 
whether  he  be  a  proper  author  to  make  personal 
reflections  ?  .  .  .  Let  the  person  of  a  gentleman 
of  his  parts  be  never  so  contemptible,  his  inward 
man  is  ten  times  more  ridiculous  ;  it  being  impos- 
sible that  his  outward  form,  though  it  be  that  of 
a  downright  monkey,  should  differ  so  much  from 
human  shape  as  his  unthinking,  immaterial  part 
does  from  human  understanding." 

Pope  seemed  at  first  quite  stunned  and  bewildered 
by  this  unexpected  onslaught.  He  was  uncertain 
how  to  take  it,  whether  with  philosophic  contempt 
or  with  counter  violence.  Writing  to  Cromwell 
three  days  after  the  appearance  of  the  pamphlet,  he 
says  that  he  is  impatiently  expecting  a  visit  from 
his  friend.  "  A  little  room  and  a  little  heart  are 
both  at  your  service,  and  you  may  be  secure  of 
being  easy  in  your  own  way,  though  not  happy  ; 
for  you  shall  go  just  your  own  way  and  keep  your 
own  hours,  which  is  more  than  can  be  done  often 
in  places  of  greater  entertainment.  .   .   . 

1  Pope  changed  the  line  to — 

And  still  the  more  we  give,  the  more  required. 


The  *' Essay  on  Criticism**  49 

P.S. — Pray  bring  a  very  considerable  number  of 
pint-bottles  with  you.  This  might  seem  a  strange 
odd  request,  if  you  had  not  told  me  you  would  stay 
but  as  many  days  as  you  brought  bottles.  .  .  . 
Mr.  Lintot  favoured  me  with  a  sight  of  Mr.  Dennis's 
piece  of  fine  satire  before  it  was  published.  I  desire 
you  to  read  it  and  give  me  your  opinion  in  what 
manner  it  ought  to  be  answered." 

The  subject  was  further  discussed  in  letters  with 
a  new  friend,  who  about  this  time  made  his 
appearance  in  the  correspondence.  This  was  Mr. 
John  Caryll,  a  Catholic  gentleman,  who  lived  at 
Ladyholt,  in  Sussex.^  Being  related  to  the  Engle- 
fields  of  Whiteknights  and  the  Blounts  of  Maple- 
durham,  he  had  no  doubt  made  Pope's  acquaintance 
through  the  agency  of  one  of  these  families.  The 
correspondence  seems  to  have  begun  in  July  17 10, 
but  did  not  become  intimate  or  frequent  till  the 
following  year. 

On  June  25,  171 1,  Pope  sends  Caryll  Dennis's 
pamphlet,  which,  he  says,  "  equally  abounds  in 
just  criticisms  and  fine  railleries.  I  am  of  opinion 
that  such  a  critic  as  you  will  find  him,  by  the  latter 
part  of  his  book,  is  in  no  way  to  be  properly  answered 
but  by  a  wooden  weapon,  and  I  should  perhaps 
have  sent  him  a  present  from  Windsor  Forest  of 
one  of  the  best  and  toughest  oaken  plants  between 
Sunninghill  and  Oakingham,  if  he  had  not  informed 
me  in  his  Preface  that  he  is  at  this  time  persecuted 

^  Caryll  had  another  estate  at  East  Grinstead,  where  he  some- 
times resided.  He  was  nephew  to  the  Caryll  who  followed 
James  II.  into  exile,  and  was  by  him  created  a  peer.  Pope's 
friend,  as  next  heir,  was  called  "Honourable"  by  the  Jacobite 
party. 

VOL.    I  4 


50  Mr.  Pope 

by  fortune.  This,  I  protest,  I  knew  not  the  least 
of  before  ;  if  I  had,  his  name  had  been  spared  in 
the  Essay  for  that  only  reason.  I  cannot  conceive 
what  ground  he  has  for  so  excessive  a  resentment, 
nor  imagine  how  these  three  lines  can  be  called 
a  reflection  on  his  person  which  only  describe  his 
being  subject  a  little  to  colour  and  stare  on  some 
occasions,  which  are  revolutions  that  happen  some- 
times in  the  best  and  most  regular  faces  in 
Christendom.  .  .  .  Yet,  to  give  this  man  his  due, 
he  has  objected  to  one  or  two  lines  with  reason,  and 
I  will  alter  them  in  the  case  of  another  edition." 

In  a  later  letter  to  Caryll  Pope  says  that  he  is 
resolved  never  to  make  the  least  reply  to  Dennis's 
attacks,  because  he  is  of  opinion  that  if  a  book 
cannot  answer  for  itself  to  the  public  it  is  to  no 
sort  of  purpose  for  its  author  to  do  so.  Besides, 
Dennis's  onslaught  has  really  been  of  advantage 
to  him  by  making  him  friends  and  open  abettors 
of  several  gentlemen  of  known  sense  and  wit,  and 
of  proving  to  him  that  his  trifles  are  taken  some 
notice  of  by  the  world  in  general.  At  this  time,  and 
throughout  his  whole  life.  Pope  professed  to  despise 
his  own  productions.  In  reply  to  compliments 
from  Caryll,  he  protests  :  "  I  know  too  well  the 
vast  difference  between  those  who  truly  deserve 
-.  ,  the  name  of  poets  and  men  of  wit  and  one  who 
is  nothing  but  what  he  owes  to  them  ;  and  I  keep 
the  pictures  of  Dryden,  Milton,  Shakespeare,  etc., 
in  my  chamber  round  about  me,  that  the  constant 
remembrance  of  them  may  keep  me  always  humble." 


CHAPTER  VI 
1711 

New  Literary  Projects — *^  The  Unfortunate 

Lady '' 

THE  "  Essay  on  Criticism,"  following  as  it  did 
upon  the  successful  "  Pastorals,"  brought  the 
author  fresh  reputation  among  his  friends,  and  intro- 
duced him  to  several  new  and  distinguished  acquaint- 
ances in  the  literary  world.  It  is Jn  July  171 1  that 
Steele  makes  his  first  appearance  among  Pope's 
correspondents.  He  writes  to  ask  the  young  poet 
whether  he  is  at  leisure  "to  help  Mr.  Clayton,  that 
is  me,  to  some  words  for  music  against  Christmas." 
This  request  inspired  the  "  Ode  on  St.  Cecilia's 
Day" — an  unfortunate  choice  of  subject,  since  Pope's 
Ode  had  to  stand  comparison  with  Dryden's  Ode. 

On  December  20  a  belated  review  by  Addison  ot 
the  "  Essay  on  Criticism  "  appeared  in  'The  Spectator} 
The  notice  was  generally  considered  a  favourable 
one,  though  the  tendency  to  "  hint  a  fault "  and 
"  damn  with  faint  praise "  is  not  altogether  absent. 
Still,  Addison  sets  out  by  describing  the  Essay  as 
a  masterpiece  of  its  kind,  and  continues  : 

"  The  observations  follow  one  another  like  those 

1  The  Tatler  had  come  to  an  end  in  January  171 1,  and  had 
been  succeeded  by  The  Spectator,  fUnder  the  joint  management 
of  Steele  and  Addison,  in  the  following  March. 

51 


52  Mr.  Pope 

in  Horace's  '  Art  of  Poetry,'  without  the  methodical 
regularity  which  would  have  been  requisite  in  a 
prose  author.  They  are  some  of  them  uncommon, 
but  such  as  the  reader  must  assent  to  when  he  sees 
them  explained  with  that  elegance  and  perspicuity  in 
which  they  are  delivered.  As  for  those  which  are 
the  most  known,  and  the  most  received,  they  are 
placed  in  so  beautiful  a  light,  and  illustrated  with 
such  apt  allusions,  that  they  have  in  them  all  the 
graces  of  novelty,  and  make  the  reader,  who  was 
before  acquainted  with  them,  still  more  convinced  of 
their  truth  and  solidity." 

There  is  a  more  acrid  note  in  the  remark  that 
"  in  England  a  man  seldom  sets  up  for  a  poet 
without  attacking  the  reputation  of  all  his  brothers 
in  the  art.  The  ignorance  of  the  moderns,  the 
scribblers  of  the  age,  the  decay  of  poetry,  are  the 
topics  of  detraction  with  which  he  makes  his  entrance 
into  the  world.  I  am  sorry  to  find  that  an  author, 
who  is  very  justly  esteemed  among  the  best  judges, 
has  admitted  some  strokes  of  this  kind  into  a  very 
fine  poem — I  mean  the  '  Art  of  Criticism.'  " 

Pope  was  delighted  with  the  praise  and,  for  once, 
bowed  his  neck  to  the  blame.^  He  took  for  granted 
that  the  article  was  by  Steele,  to  whom  he  wrote 
a  letter  of  thanks  on  December  30.  He  has  been 
spending  Christmas  with  some  honest  country  gentle- 

1  Alluding  to  his  early  critics  in  "The  Epistle  to  Dr.  Arbuthnot," 
Pope  writes  : 

Yet  then  did  Dennis  rave  in  furious  fret  ? 
I  never  answered — I  was  not  in  debt. 

Did  some  more  sober  critic  come  abroad? 
'     If  wrong,  I  smiled  ;  if  right,  I  kissed  the  rod. 


New  Literary  Projects  53 

men,  who  never  read  'The  Spectator^  and  he  has,  there- 
fore, only  just  seen  the  number  of  December  20, 
"  wherein,  though  it  be  the  highest  satisfaction  to 
find  oneself  commended  by  a  person  whom  all  the 
world  commends,  yet  I  am  not  more  obliged  to  you 
for  that  than  for  your  candour  and  frankness  in 
acquainting  me  with  the  error  I  have  been  guilty  of 
in  speaking  too  freely  of  my  brother  moderns.  ,  .  . 
But  if  ever  this  Essay  be  thought  worth  a  second 
edition,  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  strike  out  all  such 
strokes  which  you  shall  be  so  kind  as  to  point  out 
to  me." 

Steele  wrote  to  explain  that  the  review  of  Pope's 
poem  "  was  written  by  one  with  whom  I  will  make 
you  acquainted,  which  is  the  best  return  I  can  make 
you  for  your  favour."  Thus  we  may  suppose  that 
early  in  this  year,  17 12,  Pope  was  introduced  to 
Addison,  who  had  lately  migrated  with  his  following 
from  Will's  to  Button's  coffee-house,  where  he  now 
"  gave  his  little  senate  laws." 

John  Gay  now  makes  his  first  appearance  on  the 
scene.  He  was  three  years  older  than  Pope,  having 
been  born  at  Barnstaple  in  1685.  Left  an  orphan  at 
the  age  of  ten,  he  was  apprenticed,  as  soon  as  his 
school-days  were  over,  to  a  silk  mercer  in  London. 
But  Gay  felt  that  he  was  intended  for  better  things 
than  to  serve  behind  a  counter.  He  contrived  to 
obtain  his  freedom  before  his  articles  were  out,  and, 
after  staying  with  relations  at  Barnstaple  for  some 
months,  he  returned  to  London,  where  in  May,  1708, 
he  made  his  literary  debut  with  a  poem  in  blank 
verse  called  "  Wine,"  an  imitation  of  John  Philip's 
"Cider,"    How  he  lived  during  the  years  immediately 


54  Mr.  Pope 

following  this  effort  has  never  been  made  clear.  He 
was  presumably  engaged  in  some  kind  of  literary 
hackwork  for  the  booksellers. 

The  first  mention  of  him  in  Pope's  correspondence 
appears  in  a  letter  to  Cromwell  (December  31,  1 7 1 1 ), 
in  which  the  poet  says  :  "  I  would  willingly  return 
Mr,  Gay  my  thanks  for  the  favour  of  his  poem,  and 
in  particular  for  his  kind  mention  of  me."  This  is 
probably  an  allusion  to  Gay's  "  Lines  on  a  Miscellany 
of  Poems,"  addressed  to  Bernard  Lintot,  and  pub- 
lished in  the  "  Miscellany  "  issued  by  Lintot  in  May, 
17 12.  After  alluding  to  various  other  writers,  Gay 
proceeds  : 

When  Pope's  harmonious  muse  with  pleasure  roves, 

Amidst  the  plains,  the  murm'ring  streams  and  groves, 

Attentive  Echo,  pleased  to  hear  his  songs, 

Through  the  glad  shade  each  warbling  note  prolongs ; 

His  various  numbers  charm  our  ravished  ears, 

His  early  judgment  far  outstript  his  years, 

And  early  in  the  youth  the  god  appears. 

Down  to  this  peripd  we  have  heard  but  little 
of  any  women  acquaintance  except  the  two  Sapphos, 
though  Pope  was  accustomed  to  drag  in  a  knowing 
allusion  to  the  "  fair  sex  "  when  writing  to  Cromwell, 
who,  a  man  of  the  world  in  his  rough  way,  seldom 
or  never  took  any  notice  of  these  insinuations.  He 
prided  himself  on  being  a  litterateur  as  well  as  a 
rake,  and  his  friendship  with  Pope  was  founded  on 
their  common  taste  for  literature.  At  this  time  he 
was  urging  the  poet  to  try  his  hand  at  a  drama. 

"  Leave  elegy  and  translation  to  the  inferior  class," 
he  had  written  (December  7,  171 1),  '^  on  whom  the 
Muses  only  glance  now  and  then,  like  our  winter 


New  Literary  Projects  5S 

snow,  and  then  leave  them  in  the  dark.  Think  on 
the  dignity  of  tragedy,  which  is  of  the  greater  poetry, 
as  Dennis  says,  and  foil  him  at  his  other  weapon, 
as  you  have  done  in  criticism.  Every  one  wonders 
that  a  genius  like  yours  will  not  support  the  sinking 
drama  ;  and  Mr.  Wilks,^  though  1  think  his  talent 
is  comedy,  has  expressed  a  glorious  ambition  to 
swell  in  your  buskins.  We  have  had  a  poor 
comedy  of  Johnson's  '  (not  Ben)  which  held  seven 
nights,  and  got  him  three  hundred  pounds  ;  for  the 
town  is  sharp-set  on  new  plays." 

Betterton,^  too,  was  desirous  that  Pope  should 
turn  his  boyish  epic  into  a  tragedy,  but  the  young 
man,  as  soon  as  he  got  well  acquainted  with  the 
town,  took  a  firm  resolution  against  writing  for  the 
^tage.  He  had  been  quick  to  see  "how  much 
everybody  that  did  write  for  the  stage  was  obliged 
to  submit  themselves  to  the  players  and  the  town." 
Just  at  this  time,  too,  there  were  special  reasons  why 
he  felt  disinclined  to  embark  upon  any  piece  of  work 
so  difficult  and  so  hazardous  to  a  rising  reputation, 
as  a  play.  He  had  been  improving  his  acquaintance 
with  the  two  fair  daughters  of  Mr.  Blount  of  Maple- 
durham.  This  ancient  Catholic  family  consisted 
at  this  time  of  Mr.  Lister  Blount,  his  son  Michael, 

*  Robert  Wilks,  the  famous  actor  (1665-1732).  He  was  asso- 
ciated in  the  management  of  Drury  Lane  with  Gibber  and  Doggett 
for  nearly  twenty  years,  from  171 1. 

'  Charles  Johnson  (1679-1748).  He  wrote  a  large  number  of 
long-forgotten  plays  and  was  satirised  in  "  The  Dunciad." 

*  Thomas  Betterton,  the  tragedian  (1635-1710).  Pope  had 
early  made  his  acquaintance,  and  entertained  for  him  a  high 
regard.  After  Betterton's  death  the  poet  arranged  for  the  publi- 
cation of  some  of  his  Chaucerian  writings  in  a  "  Miscellany,"  the 
profits  being  given  to  his  widow. 


S6  Mr.  Pope 

and  two  daughters,  "  the  fair-haired  Martha  and 
Teresa  brown,"  Teresa  and  Pope  were  born  in 
the  same  year,  and  Martha  was  two  years  younger. 
There  is  probably  an  allusion  to  the  sisters  in  Pope's 
reply  to  Cromwell's  request  that  he  should  write 
a  play. 

"  Every  moment  my  eyes  are  employed  'upon  the 
paper  they  are  taken  off  from  two  of  the  finest  faces 
in  the  universe.  But  indeed  it  is  some  consolation 
to  me  to  consider  that,  while  I  but  write  this  period, 
I  escape  some  hundred  darts  from  those  unerring 
eyes,  and  about  a  thousand  deaths,  or  better.  .  .  . 
Indeed,  indeed,  my  friend,  you  could  never  have 
found  so  improper  a  time  to  tempt  me  with  interest 
or  ambition.  Let  me  but  have  the  reputation  of 
these  in  my  keeping,  and  as  for  my  own,  let  the 
devil  or  let  Dennis  take  it  for  ever.  How  gladly 
would  I  give  all  I  am  worth,  that  is  to  say,  my 
'  Pastorals,'  for  one  of  them,  and  my  Essay  for  the 
other.  1  would  lay  out  all  my  poetry  in  love,  an 
original  for  a  lady  and  a  translation  for  a  waiting- 
maid  !  .  .  .  Alas  !  what  have  I  to  do  with  Jane 
Grey,  as  long  as  Miss  Molly,  Miss  Betty,  or  Miss 
Patty  are  in  this  world  ?  Shall  I  write  of  beauties 
murdered  long  ago  when  there  are  those  at  this 
instant  that  murder  me  ?  I  will  e'en  compose  my 
own  tragedy,  and  the  poet  shall  appear  in  his  own 
person  to  move  compassion." 

But  the  Miss  Blounts  were  not  the  only  ladies 
in  whom  Pope  was  warmly  interested  at  this  time. 
In  the  summer  of  171 1  he  first  began  to  concern 
himself  about  the  matrimonial  troubles  of  a  certain 
Mrs.  Weston,  who  is  commonly  supposed  to  be  the 


n 


The  Unfortunate  Lady*^  57 

original  of  the  Unfortunate  Lady  of  the  famous 
Elegy.  Mrs.  Weston  was  the  daughter  of  Joseph 
Gage,  of  Firle,  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  she  was 
married  to  John  Weston,  of  Sutton,  in  Surrey.  The 
marriage  was  an  unhappy  one,  and  husband  and  wife 
were  temporarily  separated.  Mr.  Weston  wished 
to  claim  his  infant  daughter.  Sir  William  Goring, 
Mrs.  Weston's  guardian,  refused  to  interfere,  and 
the  young  wife  had  some  thoughts  of  retiring  into 
a  convent.  The  Roman  Catholic  families  in  the 
neighbourhood  seem  to  have  taken  sides  in  the 
affair,  and  Pope,  who  had  a  quixotic  streak  in  his 
composition,  came  forward  as  the  ardent  champion 
of  Mrs.  Weston,  who,  by  the  way,  does  not  appear 
to  have  shown  much  gratitude  for  his  support. 
That  he  was  a  little  in  love  with  her,  and  believed 
himself  to  be  nursing  a  silent,  hopeless  passion,  may 
be  gathered  from  a  passage  in  a  letter  he  wrote 
to  her  on  hearing  of  her  intention  to  enter  a 
convent.  After  urging  her  to  continue  in  the 
world,  if  only  for  the  sake  of  the  world,  he  pro- 
ceeds, in  the  superfine  style  he  kept  for  his  female 
friends  : 

"  Wheresoever  Providence  shall  dispose  of  the 
most  valuable  thing  I  know,  I  shall  ever  follow 
you  with  my  sincerest  wishes,  and  my  best  thoughts 
will  be  perpetually  waiting  upon  you,  when  you 
never  hear  of  me  or  them.  Your  own  guardian 
angels  cannot  be  more  constant,  or  more  silent.  .  .  ." 

Pope's  interference  in  this  domestic  broil  brought 
him  some  good  "  copy,"  and  the  annoyance  that 
usually  follows  an  attempt  to  put  a  finger  in  a  cleft 
stick.     He  fell  foul  of  his  half-sister,  Mrs.  Rackett 


58  Mr.  Pope 

and  her  husband  because,  as  neighbours  of  the 
Westons,  they  refused  to  quarrel  with  the  tyrannical 
husband,  and  he  stirred  up  his  friends  the  Carylls 
and  Mrs.  "  Sappho  "  Nelson  to  intercede  with  the 
apathetic  guardian.  Sir  William  Goring.  In  a  letter 
to  Caryll,  of  June  i8,  171 1,  he  begs  his  friend 
to  let  him  know  the  result  of  a  conference  with 
Sir  William,  and  adds  : 

"  Unless  you  have  already  done  it  to  her,  I  shall 
be  glad  to  inform  her  [Mrs.  Weston],  to  whom 
every  little  prospect  of  ease  is  a  great  relief  in  these 
circumstances.  I  am  certain  a  letter  from  yourself 
or  lady  would  be  a  much  greater  consolation  to  her 
than  your  humility  will  afford  either  of  you  to 
imagine.  To  relieve  the  injured — if  you  will 
pardon  a  poetical  expression  in  prose — is  no  less  than 
to  take  the  work  of  God  Himself  off  His  hands,  and 
an  easing  Providence  of   its    care." 

The  "  Elegy  to  the  Memory  of  an  Unfortunate 
Lady"  was  not  published  till  1717,  but,  as  it  was 
probably  written  about  this  period,  it  may  best  be 
dealt  with  here.  The  poem  appears  to  be  written 
round  a  lady  who  committed  suicide  in  a  foreign 
land,  deserted  by  her  friends  because  she  had  loved 
too  well.  The  story  was  thus  only  remotely  con- 
nected with  that  of  Mrs.  Weston,  who  died  in  her 
bed  seven  years  after  the  poem  appeared  ;  but  there 
is  a  realistic  touch  in  the  denunciation  of  "  the  false 
guardian  of  a  charge  too  good,"  the  "  mean  deserter 
of  a  brother's  blood."  The  poet,  in  impassioned 
Hnes,  calls  down  Heaven's  vengeance  on  the  heads  of 
the  whole  family,  their  wives  and  their  children,  and 
assures    them    that    frequent    funerals    shall    besiege 


''The  Unfortunate  Lady''  59 

their  gates.     Then,   in  lines   that  were  once  vastly- 
admired  for  their  pathos  and  eloquence,  he  asks  : 

What  can  atone,  O  ever  injured  shade  ! 
Thy  fate  unpitied,  and  thy  rites  unpaid  ? 
No  friend's  complaint,  no  kind  domestic  tear 
Pleased  thy  pale  ghost  or  graced  thy  mournful  bier. 
By  foreign  hands  thy  dying  eyes  were  closed, 
By  foreign  hands  thy  decent  limbs  composed, 
By  foreign  hands  thy  humble  grave  adorned, 
By  strangers  honoured,  and  by  strangers  mourned. 

After  a  musical,  though  artificial,  description  of  the 
lady's  tomb,  with  its  early  roses  and  silver-winged 
angels,  we  come  to  the  usual  little  biographical  hint 
in  the  concluding  lines  : 

Poets  themselves  must  fall,  like  those  they  sung, 
Deaf  the  praised  ear  and  mute  the  tuneful  tongue. 
Ev'n  he  whose  soul  now  melts  in  mournful  lays 
Shall  shortly  want  the  generous  tear  he  pays. 
Then  from  his  closing  eyes  thy  form  shall  part. 
And  the  last  pang  shall  tear  thee  from  his  heart ; 
Life's  idle  business  at  one  gasp  be  o'er, 
The  muse  forgot,  and  thou  beloved  no  more  ! 

This  Elegy,  together  with  the  "  Epistle  of  Eloisa 
to  Abelard,"  was  supposed  to  prove  Pope's  mastery 
over  the  pathetic.  It  was  claimed  that  no  one  could 
read  it  without  being  moved  to  tears.  But  in  truth 
the  pathos  has  acquired,  with  the  passing  of  years, 
a  somewhat  hollow  ring.  The  poem  sounds,  to 
modern  ears,  like  the  tour  de  force  of  a  young  man 
who  really  enjoyed  the  luxury  of  woe.  Pale  ghosts 
and  decent  limbs  and  kind  domestic  tears  no  longer 
move  us  with  a  sense  of  anything  but  boredom. 
But  naturally,  when  the  Elegy  appeared,  with  that 
tantalising  little  personal  note  at  the  end,  the  poet's 


6o  Mr»  Pope 

friends  were  much  "  intrigued,"  and  begged  to  know 
the  name  and  actual  story  of  the  Unfortunate  Lady. 
But  Pope,  whose  unhappy  love  for  the  victim  was 
as  much  a  myth  as  his  passionate  regret  for  her 
imaginary  fate,  persistently  evaded  all  inquiries. 
The  consequence  was  that  a  series  of  sensational 
legends  was  woven  around  the  commonplace  story. 
One  solemn  biographer  declared  that  the  Unfortunate 
Lady  had  been  forced  abroad  by  her  cruel  guardian 
in  consequence  of  an  unsuitable  love-affair,  and  that, 
wearying  of  her  exile,  she  put  an  end  to  her  troubles 
with  a  sword.  Another  had  heard  that  Voltaire  had 
told  Condorcet  that  she  nursed  a  hopeless  passion 
for  the  Due  de  Berry,  and  that  she  took  her  life  with 
a  noose.  A  third  had  discovered  that  she  was  a 
deformed  lady  who  was  madly  in  love  with  Pope, 
and  destroyed  herself  because  her  guardian  would 
not  consent  to  the  mesalliance.  The  end  of  the 
whole  matter  is  that  little  Mrs.  Weston,  of  Sutton, 
has  attained  a  lasting  fame,  and  figures,  with  Patty 
Blount  and  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu,  as  one  of 
the  ladies  whom  Pope  adored  and  sang. 


CHAPTER    VII 

1712 

**  The  Messiah  ''—*'  The  Rape  of  the  Lock 


*f 


T3OPE  had  been  invited  by  Steele  to  contribute 
'*'  to  The  Spectator,  and  in  the  number  for  May 
14,  1 71 2,  appeared  "The  Messiah,  an  Imitation 
of  Virgil's  '  Pollio.'  "  ^  Steele  introduced  the  poem 
to  his  readers  in  terms  of  the  most  friendly  flattery. 
"  I  will  make  no  apology,"  he  writes,  "  for  enter- 
taining the  reader  with  the  following  poem,  which 
is  written  by  a  great  genius,  a  friend  of  mine  in 
the  country,  who  is  not  ashamed  to  employ  his  wit 
in  the  praise  of  his  Maker." 

He  assured  the  author  privately  that  all  the 
sublimity  of  the  original  had  been  preserved,  and 
that  the  piece  was  superior  to  the  "  Pollio."  But 
from  the  modern  point  of  view  Isaiah,  on  whose 
prophecies  the  work  was  based,  does  not  appear 
"  to  advantage  dressed  "  in  eighteenth-century  cos- 
tume, and  the    poem,   though    admired  by    Pope's 

^  In  his  advertisement  to  the  poem  Pope  said  that,  in  reading 
several  passages  of  the  prophet  Isaiah,  he  could  not  but  observe 
a  remarkable  resemblance  between  many  of  the  thoughts  and 
those  in  the  "  Pollio  "  of  Virgil,  which  was  taken  from  a  Sibylline 
prophecy.  "  The  Messiah,"  he  explains,  was  written  with  this 
particular  view,  "  that  the  reader,  by  comparing  the  several 
thoughts,  might  see  how  far  the  images  and  descriptions  of  the 
prophet  are  superior  to  those  of  the  poet." 

61 


62  Mr.  Pope 

contemporaries,  has  made  no  very  strong  appeal  to 
later  critics. 

The  taste  which  held  that  Isaiah  had  been  "  im- 
proved upon "  may  be  gauged  by  a  comparison 
between  one  of  the  prophecies  of  the  Oriental  seer 
and  its  flowery  paraphrase  by  the  Queen  Anne 
poet.  Thus,  Isaiah  looks  forward  to  that  millennial 
day  when  "  the  wolf  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb, 
and  the  leopard  shall  lie  down  with  the  kid,  and 
the  calf  and  the  young  Hon  and  the  fatling  together ; 
and  a  little  child  shall  lead  them.  And  the  lion 
shall  eat  straw  like  the  ox.  And  the  sucking 
child  shall  play  on  the  hole  of  the  asp,  and  the 
weaned  child  shall  put  his  hand  on  the  den  of  the 
cockatrice." 

Pope,  no  doubt,  found  it  quite  an  easy  task 
to  transform  the  prophecy  into  smooth,  melodious 
verse  : 

The  lambs  with  wolves  shall  graze  the  verdant  mead, 
And  boys  in  flowery  bands  the  tiger  lead  ; 
The  steer  and  lion  at  one  crib  shall  meet, 
And  harmless  serpents  lick  the  pilgrim's  feet. 
The  smiling  infant  in  his  hand  shall  take 
The  crested  basilisk  and  speckled  snake, 
Pleased,  the  green  lustre  of  the  scales  survey, 
And  with  their  forky  tongues  shall  innocently  play.^ 

A  little  later  in  the  month  of  May  appeared 
the  "  Miscellany  "  of  Bernard  Lintot,  upon  which  Gay 

'  "  He  shall  feed  His  flock  like  a  shepherd  "  is  rendered,  "As  the 
good  shepherd  tends  his  fleecy  care."  Again,  "  The  wilderness 
and  the  solitary  place  shall  be  glad  for  them  ;  and  the  desert 
shall  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose  "  is  thus  paraphrased  : 

The  swain  in  barren  deserts  with  surprise 
Sees  lilies  spring,  and  sudden  verdure  rise. 


From  an  engraving  by  C  Knight  after  the  painting  by  Sir  ?eter  Lely. 
ARABELLA    FERMOR. 


**  The  Messiah  *'  63 

had  written  his  laudatory  verses.  This  contained 
Pope's  paraphrase  of  "  The  Wife  of  Bath,"  his  trans- 
lation of  the  first  book  of  the  "  Thebais  "  of  Statius, 
the  "Lines  to  a  Young  Lady,"  and  the  original 
draft  of  what  was  to  prove  the  most  popular  of 
his  works,  "The  Rape  of  the  Lock."  ^  The  draft 
consisted  of  only  two  cantos,  and  had  been  dashed 
off,  so  the  poet  declared,  in  a  fortnight.  The 
poem  itself  must  be  considered  in  its  completed 
state  ;  it  will  be  sufficient  here  to  glance  at  the 
incidents  which  led  to  its  composition. 

The  young  Lord  Petre "  had  playfully  cut  a  lock 
from  the  head  of  that  famous  beauty,  Miss  Arabella 
Fermor,  daughter  of  Mr.  Fermor  of  Tusmore. 
Both  families  were  Catholics,  and  both  were  friends 
of  the  Carylls.  A  quarrel  arising  out  of  the  theft, 
Caryll  suggested  that  Pope  should  write  a  good- 
humoured  skit  on  the  subject,  in  the  hope  of 
reconcihng  the  parties  to  the  squabble.  This 
manoeuvre  was  not  a  striking  success.  The  poet 
was  barely  acquainted  with  the  lady,  who  seems  to 
have  felt  rather  insulted  than  soothed  by  his  tribute, 
while  Sir  George  Brown,  of  Keddington,  the  original 
of  Sir  Plume,  was  naturally  indignant  at  being 
exhibited   in  a   ridiculous  light. 

For  some  time  before  its  publication  the  poem 
had   been  handed  round  in  manuscript,  and  as  late 

^  The  "  Miscellany  "  also  contained  "  Chaucer's  Characters  ;  or, 
The  Introduction  to  the  Canterbury  Tales,"  by  Thomas  Betterton. 
These  "  Characters  "  are  believed  to  have  been  corrected,  if  not 
actually  written,  by  Pope  himself,  who  published  them  for  the 
benefit  of  Betterton's  widow. 

-  Robert,  seventh  Baron  Petre.  He  died  in  1713,  aged  only 
twenty-two. 


u- 


64  Mr«  Pope 

as  May  1 5  Caryll  wrote  to  ask,  "  But  where 
hangs  the  Lock  now  ?  Though,  I  know  that,  rather 
than  draw  any  just  reflection  upon  yourself  of  the 
least  shadow  of  ill  nature,  you  would  freely  have 
suppressed  one  of  the  best  of  your  poems." 
Again,  a  copy  of  the  "  Miscellany  "  was  sent  by  Pope 
to  Martha  Blount  on  May  25,  with  the  following 
letter,  which  proves  that  his  principal  contribution 
had  long  been  familiar   to   her  : 

"  Madam, 

"  At  last  I  do  myself  the  honour  to  send  you 
'  The  Rape  of  the  Lock,'  which  has  been  so  long 
coming  out  that  the  lady's  charms  might  have  been 
half  decayed  while  the  poet  was  celebrating  them 
and  the  printer  publishing  them.  But  yourself  and 
your  fair  sister  must  needs  have  been  surfeited 
already  with  this  trifle  ;  and  therefore,  you  have  no 
hopes  of  entertainment,  but  from  the  rest  of  this 
book,  wherein  (they  tell  me)  are  some  things  that 
may  be  dangerous  to  be  looked  upon  :  however, 
I  venture  to  think  you  may  venture,  though  you 
should  blush  for  it,  since  blushing  ^  becomes  you 
the  best  of  any  lady  in  England,  and  the  most 
dangerous  thing  to  be  looked  upon  is  yourself. 
Indeed,  madam,  not  to  flatter  you,  our  virtue  will 
be  sooner  overthrown  by  one  glance  of  yours  than 
by  all  the  wicked  poets  can  write  in  an  age,  as 
has  been  too  dearly  experienced  by  the  wickedest 
of  them   all,    that   is    to   say,    by, 

"  Madam,  your  most  obedient,  etc." 

*  This  was  probably  an  allusion  to  the  grossness  of  "The  Wife 
of  Bath,"  though  it  might  also  apply  to  the  flattery  contained  in 
the  "  Lines  to  a  Young  Lady." 


''The  Rape  of  the  Lock''  6s 

The  poem  entitled  "  Lines  to  a  Young  Lady, 
with  the  Works  of  Voiture,"  is  now  known  as 
the  "  Epistle  to  Miss  Blount.  "  ^  The  verses  open 
with  a  well-turned  tribute  to  Voiture,  whose  death 
is  said  to  have  been  deplored  by  rival  wits,  and 
mourned  by  the  gay  who  never  mourned  before. 

The  truest  hearts  for  Voiture  heaved  with  sighs, 
Voiture  was  wept  by  all  the  brightest  eyes. 

The  poet  proceeds  to  warn  his  lady  against  too 
hastily  assuming  the  chains  of  matrimony.  Not 
being  in  a  position  to  marry  himself,  he  was 
probably  jealous  of  the  eligible  lovers  who  were 
fluttering  round  the  charming  Martha  Blount.  In 
true  "  feminist "  style  he  deplores  the  severity  of 
the  forms  and  customs  by  which  women  are 
oppressed. 

By  nature  yielding,  stubborn  but  for  fame  ; 
Made  slaves  by  honour,  and  made  fools  by  shame ; 
Marriage  may  all  those  petty  tyrants  chase, 
But  sets  up  one,  a  greater,  in  their  place. 

Miss   Blount  is  exhorted,  in  a  passage  that  could 

scarcely  have  commended  itself  to  her  parents,  not 

to  quit 

The  free  innocence  of  life 
For  the  dull  glory  of  a  virtuous  wife. 

The  mournful  fate  of  an  imaginary  Pamela  is 
described.  The  gods  had  cursed  Pamela  with  her 
prayers,  had  given  her  the  shining  robes,  rich 
jewels,  gilt  coach  and  Flanders  mares,  for  which  her 
soul  had  craved,  and — to  complete  her  bliss — a  fool 
for  mate. 

^  Published  in  Pope's  works  as  Epistle  IX. 
VOL.    I  ^ 


66  Mr.  Pope 

She  glares  in  balls,  front  boxes  and  the  Ring, 
A  vain,  unquiet,  glittering,  wretched  thing  ! 
Pride,  pomp,  and  state  but  reach  the  outward  part ; 
She  sighs,  and  is  no  duchess  at  her  heart. 

But  if  Miss  Blount  is  destined  to  be  "  Hymen's 
willing  victim,"  she  is  advised  not  to  trust  too  much 
to  her  resistless  charms,  since  love  that  is  raised 
on  beauty  will  as  soon  decay. 

Good  humour  only  teaches  charms  to  last. 

Still  makes  new  conquests,  and  maintains  the  past. 

It  was  through  good  humour,  charm,  and  wit 
that  Voiture  and  his  ladies  still  lived  and  still 
charmed. 

Now  crowned  with  myrtle  on  the  Elysian  coast, 

Amid  those  lovers,  joys  his  gentle  ghost  : 

Pleased,  while  with  smiles  his  happy  lines  you  view. 

And  finds  a  fairer  Rambouillet  ^  in  you. 

The  brightest  eyes  of  France  inspired  his  Muse, 

The  brightest  eyes  of  Britain  now  peruse  ; 

And  dead,  as  living,  'tis  our  author's  pride 

Still  to  charm  those  who  charm  the  world  beside. 

That  Pope  made  some  stay  in  London  during 
the  spring  of  1 7 1 2  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact 
that  he  had  a  bad  attack  of  illness  in  the  summer. 
In  a  letter  to  Steele  (July  15)  he  moralises  on 
the  blessings  of  ill  health  in  his  best  copy-book 
fashion.  The  danger  that  threatened  him  he  regarded 
as  an  advantage  to  his  youth,  since  he  was  un- 
dazzled  by  the  attractions  of  the  world,  and  began, 
where   most  people   end,    with   a  full   conviction   of 

^  Mademoiselle  de  Rambouillet,  daughter  of  the  Marquise  de 
Rambouillet,  whose  house  was  the  centre  of  the  society  in  which 
Voiture  shone. 


*^The  Rape  of  the  Lock  *'  67 

the  emptiness  of  all  sorts  of  ambition,  and  the 
unsatisfactoriness  of  all  human  pleasures.  "  When 
a  smart  fit  of  sickness  tells  me  this  scurvy  tenement 
of  my  body  will  fall  in  a  little  time,  I  am  even  as 
unconcerned  as  was  that  honest  Hibernian  who, 
being  in  bed  in  the  great  storm  some  years  ago, 
and  told  the  house  would  tumble  over  his  head, 
made  answer,  '  What  care  I  for  the  house  ?  I  am 
only   a  lodger.'  " 

On  the  day  that  this  letter  was  written  Mr. 
Caryll's  son  was  married  to  Lady  Mary  McKensie, 
and  Pope,  who  had  advised  the  bridegroom  to  "  fear 
the  Lord,  love  his  lady,  and  read  The  Tatler^''  was 
invited  to  accompany  the  happy  pair  to  Ladyholt 
for  a  couple  of  months.  The  invitation  was,  no 
doubt,  prompted  by  a  kindly  thought,  since  his 
circumstances  may  not  have  allowed  of  the  change 
that  his  health  needed,  but  the  choice  of  tertium  quid 
seems  a  curious  one.  Pope  himself  felt  the  strange- 
ness of  his  position,  for  he  wrote  to  the  elder  Caryll  : 
"  As  no  happiness  comes  without  some  alloy,  so 
it  seems  the  young  gentleman  must  carry  me  down 
with  his  fair  lady  ;  and  I  shall  supply  the  place  of 
the  Egyptian  skeleton  at  the  entertainments  on  your 
return.^  But  I  shall  be  satisfied  to  make  an  odd 
figure  in  your  triumphs  for  the  pleasure  I  shall 
take  in  attending  them." 

Marvellous  to  relate,  the  honeymoon  waxed  and 
waned,  and  the  oddly  assorted  trio  still  remained 
on  terms  ot  peace  and  amity.  In  November  Pope, 
now  back  at  Binfield,  wrote  the  bridegroom  a  long 
and  cordial  letter,  in  which  he  gave  some  account  of 
*  Caryll  was  going  to  France  for  a  few  weeks  on  business. 


68  Mr.  Pope 

the    troubles  that  his  quixotic  actions  had  brought 
upon  him. 

"  Sir  Plume  blusters,  I  hear  ;  nay,  the  celebrated 
lady  herself  is  offended,  and,  which  is  stranger, 
Mr.  W[eston],  they  say,  is  gloomy  upon  the  matter 
— the  tyrant  meditates  revenge  ;  nay,  the  distressed 
dame  herself  has  been  taught  to  suspect  I  served 
her  but  by  halves,  and  without  prudence.  Is  not 
this  enough  to  make  a  man  for  the  future  neither 
presume  to  blame  injustice  nor  pity  ignorance,  as 
in  Mrs.  Weston's  case  ;  to  make  a  writer  never  be 
tender  of  another's  character  or  fame,  as  in  Belinda's  ; 
to  act  with  more  reserve  and  write  with  less  ? 

A  month  later  Mr.  Weston  was  still  glooming 
and  Sir  Plume  still  blustering — he  had  indeed 
threatened  the  poet  with  a  beating.  "  Whipped 
wits,"  wrote  Pope,  "  like  whipped  creams,  afford  a 
sweet  and  delectable  syllabub  to  the  taste  of  the 
town,  and  often  please  them  better  with  the  dessert 
than  all  the  meal  they  had  before.  So  if  Sir  Plume 
should  take  the  pains  to  dress  me,  I  might  possibly 
make  the  last  course  better  than  the  first.  When 
a  stale,  cold  fool  is  well  heated  and  hashed  by  a 
satirical  cook,  he  may  be  tossed  up  into  a  kickshaw 
not  disagreeable." 

In  the  course  of  this  winter  (17 12-13)  Pope 
finished  a  poem  called  "  The  Temple  of  Fame,"  ^ 
which  he  begged  Steele  to  read  and  correct.  Steele 
replied  that  he  could  find  "  a  thousand  thousand 
beauties,"  but  not  anything  to  be  called  a  fault, 
and  added,  "  I  desire  you  would  let  me  know 
whether  you  are  at  leisure  or  not.  I  have  a  design 
^  This  was  not  published  till  171 5. 


From  an  engraving'  by  C.  Picart  after  the  picture  by  Sir  Peter  Lely 

SIR   GEORGE   BROWN,    THE    "SIR   PLUME "    OF 
RAPE  OF  THE   LOCK." 


THE 


**  The  Guardian ''  69 

which  I  shall  open  in  a  month  or  two  hence,  with 
the  assistance  of  a  few  like  yourself." 

This  design  was  the  founding  of  a  new  periodical, 
The  Guardian^  which,  it  was  hoped,  would  take  the 
place  of  The  Spectator.  The  request  for  assistance 
was  a  high  compliment  from  an  established  man 
of  letters  like  Steele,  and  Pope  eagerly  responded: 
"  I  shall  be  very  ready  and  glad  to  contribute  to 
any  design  that  tends  to  the  advantage  of  mankind, 
which,  I  am  sure,  all  yours  do.  I  wish  I  had  but 
as  much  capacity  as  leisure,  for  I  am  perfectly  idle 
— a  sign  I  have  not  much  capacity." 

Mr.  Caryll's  visit  to  France  had  been  regarded 
with  some  suspicion  by  the  authorities,  on  account 
of  his  family  connection  with  the  Pretender's  Court, 
and  some  abusive  attacks  upon  him  had  appeared  in 
The  Flying  Post.  Pope  wrote  to  the  younger  Caryl! 
to  offer  his  only  weapon — his  pen — "  in  reply  to, 
or  raillery  upon,  that  scoundrel."  But  Caryll,  or 
his  son  for  him,  declined  the  offer  with  decision, 
and  the  poet,  feeling  perhaps  that  he  had  made 
a  mistake  in  suggesting  that  any  notice  should  be 
taken  of  a  scurrilous  attack,  wrote  in  semi-apologetic 
vein  : 

"  It  was  never  in  my  thoughts  to  offer  you  my 
poor  pen  in  any  direct  reply  to  such  a  scoundrel, 
who,  Hke  Hudibras,  need  fear  no  blows  but  such 
as  bruise,  but  only  in  some  little  raillery  in  the 
most  contemptuous  manner  thrown  upon  him,  not 
in  your  defence  expressly,  but  as  in  scorn  of  him 
en  gaiete  de  cceur.  But  indeed  your  opinion  that  it 
is  to  be  entirely  neglected  would  have  been  my 
own  at   first,   had  it  been  my  own  case;   but  I  felt 


\^- 


70  Mr.  Pope 

some  warmth  at  the  first  notion,  which  my  reason 
could  not  suppress  here,  as  it  did  when  I  saw  Dennis's 
book  against  me,  which  made  me  very  heartily 
merry  in  two  minutes'  time."  ^ 

Pope  had  often  declared  that  his  letters  were 
scribbled  with  all  the  carelessness  and  inattention 
imaginable,  and  that  his  style,  like  his  soul,  appeared 
in  its  natural  undress  before  his  friend.  There  were 
so  many  things  that  he  desired  to  be  thought  besides 
a  wit — "  a  Christian,  a  friend,  a  frank  companion, 
and  a  well-natured  fellow."  After  this  it  is  rather 
a  shock  to  find  him  applying  to  Caryll  for  the  return 
of  the  whole  cargo  of  these  undressed  letters.  Care- 
less as  they  were,  it  appeared  that  there  were  some 
thoughts  in  them,  dashed  off  in  the  heat  of  the 
moment,  which  might  be  of  use  to  him  for  a  design 
in  which  he  had  lately  engaged. 

Caryll  complied  with  this  request,  without 
mentioning  the  fact  that  he  had  taken  copies  of  all 
the  letters.     In  his  acknowledgment  Pope  remarks : 

"  You  have  shown  me,  I  must  confess,  several  of 
my  faults  in  the  light  of  these  letters.  Upon  a 
review  of  them,  I  find  many  things  that  would  give 
me  shame,  if  I  were  not  more  desirous  to  be  thought 
honest  than  prudent.  So  many  things  freely  thrown 
out,  such  lengths  of  undeserved  friendship,  thoughts 
just  warm  from  the  brain  without  any  polishing  or 
dress,  the  very  deshabille  of  the  understanding." 
In  spite  of  Pope's  claim  to  exceptional  honesty  and 
candour   of  speech,  Caryll  had  thought  it  necessary 

^  In  Pope's  published  correspondence  a  portion  of  this  letter 
has  been  printed  as  addressed  to  Addison  on  July  20,  1713.  The 
Flying  Post  is  changed  to  "  John  Dennis." 


Quarrel  with  Cromwell  71 

to  rebuke  his  young  friend  mildly  for  his  tendency 
to  flatter,  alluding  to  certain  inflated  compliments  as 
"  Popish  tricks."  Pope  replied  that  it  would  have 
been  more  just  to  call  them  Catholic  tricks,  since 
they  were  in  a  manner  universal,  but  promised  in 
the  future  "  to  do  you  as  much  injustice  in  my  words 
as  you  do  yourself  in  your  thoughts." 

^Pope's  friendship  with  "  honest  Cromwell  "  came, 
about  this  period,  to  an  untimely  end.  Their  quarrel 
was  probably  due  to  some  literary  cause,  for  Pope 
had  accused  Cromwell  of  pedantry,  and  Cromwell 
had  detected  Pope  in  a  plagiarism  from  Voiture. 
The  poet  told  Gay  that  he  thought  Cromwell  had 
been  annoyed  by  "  some  or  other  of  my  freedoms 
that  I  very  innocently  take,  and  most  with  those  I 
think  my  friends." 

Gay,  with  whom  the  most  irascible  could  never 
pick  a  quarrel,  had  lately  been  appointed  Steward  or 
Secretary  to  the  old  Duchess  of  Monmouth — a  post 
which  he  owed,  as  greater  men  owed  their  places 
under  Government,  to  his  literary  reputation.  He 
wrote  to  inform  Pope  of  his  piece  of  good  fortune, 
and  the  poet  replied  (December  25)  : 

"  You  are  not  in  the  least  mistaken  when  you 
congratulate  me  upon  your  own  good  success,  for  I 
have  more  people  out  of  whom  to  be  happy  than 
any  ill-natured  man  can  boast  of.  .  .  .  Ourselves  are 
easily  provided  for  ;  it  is  nothing  but  the  circum- 
stantials and  the  apparatus  or  equipage  of  human 
life  that  cost  so  much  in  the  furnishing.  Only  what 
a  luxurious  man  wants  for  himself,  a  good-natured 
man  wants  for  his  friends,  or  the  indigent," 


CHAPTER   VIII 

1713 
^* Windsor  Forest"— The  Production  of  "Cato'' 

IN  the  spring  of  17 13  Pope  brought  out  his  poem, 
"  Windsor  Forest,"  which  he  had  begun,  if  we 
may  accept  his  own  statement,  as  early  as  1704, 
and  completed  in  the  winter  of  17 12.  Lord  Lans- 
downe  had  instigated  the  poet  to  write  the  panegyric 
on  the  Peace  of  Utrecht  with  which  the  piece  con- 
cludes, and  it  was  to  Lord  Lansdowne  that  the  work 
was  dedicated.  On  January  10,  17 13,  Pope  sent  his 
patron  the  manuscript  to  "correct,"  together  with  his 
thanks  for  giving  the  poem  its  greatest  ornament — 
that  of  bearing  his  Lordship's  name  on  the  first  page. 
"  I  am  not  so  vain  as  to  think,"  he  adds,  "  I  have 
shown  you  a  favour  in  sparing  your  modesty,  and 
you  cannot  but  make  me  some  return  for  prejudic- 
ing the  truth  to  gratify  you.  This,  I  beg,  may  be 
the  free  correction  of  these  verses,  which  will  have 
few  beauties  but  what  may  be  made  by  your  blots. 
I  am  in  the  circumstances  of  an  ordinary  painter 
drawing  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller,  who  by  a  few  touches 
of  his  own  could  make  the  piece  very  valuable."^ 

^  This  is  only  too  apt  an  illustration  of  Pope's  own  verses  : 

What  woeful  stuff  this  madrigal  would  be 
In  some  starved  hackney  sonneteer,  or  me  ! 
But  let  a  lord  once  own  the  happy  lines, 
How  the  wit  brightens  !  how  the  style  refines  ! 
72 


''Windsor  Forest"  73 

Sir  William  Trumbull  asserted  that  it  was  he  who 
originally  suggested  the  theme.  In  a  letter  to  a 
friend,  written  shortly  after  the  publication  of  the 
poem,  the  old  diplomatist  observes,  with  an  evident 
sense  of  injury,  "  I  should  have  commended  his 
[Pope's]  poem  on  Windsor  Forest  much  more  if 
he  had  not  served  me  a  slippery  trick ;  for  you 
must  know  I  had  long  since  put  him  upon  this 
subject,  gave  several  hints,  and  at  last,  when  he 
brought  it  and  read  it,  and  made  some  little  altera- 
tions, etc.,  not  one  word  of  putting  in  my  name  till 
I  found  it  in  print." 

The  first  part  of  the  work,  which  was  evidently 
suggested  by  Sir  John  Denham's  "  Cooper's  Hill," 
shows  the  young  poet  still  in  the  imitative  stage,  his 
descriptions  of  nature  still  smelling  of  the  coffee- 
house, his  pages  still  weighted  with  the  mythological 
deities  whose  dreary  pretensions  Addison  had  al- 
ready laughed  away  in  the  pages  of  'The  Spectator.  ^ 

A  descriptive  poem  is  not  usually  distinguished  for 
the  strength  of  its  "  fable,"  and  "  Windsor  Forest  " 
was  certainly  no  exception  to  the  rule.  A  brief 
picture  of  the  peace  and  beauty  of  the  Forest  under 
the  beneficent  reign  of  a  Stuart  is  followed  by  a 
retrospective  glance  at  the  dismal  time  when,  beneath 
the  iron  hand  of  the  Conqueror — 

The  fields  are  ravished  from  th'  industrious  swains, 
From  men  their  cities,  and  from  gods  their  fanes  ; 
The  levelled  towns  with  weeds  he  covered  o'er  ; 
The  hollow  winds  through  naked  temples  roar ; 

^  In  The  Spectator  for  October  30,  171 2,  Addison  ridicules  the 
practice  of  bringing  in  the  fables  of  pagan  mythology,  in  other 
words  a  parcel  of  school-boy  tales,  to  illustrate  or  adorn  a  modern 
poem.     He  concludes  by  issuing  an  edict  against  the  custom. 


74 


Mr.  Pcoe 


ciKspaig  ITT  tvined  ; 

QTa  Soeaps  of  rain  staife^  tSae  sSately  hind  ; 

.  "  ;    " ;       ;  "SOEEft?  tEJ  ttriiiranrixg  tOBBBOS  ICtllCS, 

^■^~  S£z:£^  InwIiDi^  ffll  tine  satoed  cboiiSw 


of  tiic  fiddl-sro-T? 


Tear. 


ep: 


of  M? 


^T-Ooffed  by  an  accoont 

=ad!i  season  of  the 

ve  taken  bat  a  small 

.3  c^  the  Forest,  and 

i-pfkHi  is  based  opon 

ladber  than  upcm 

-rrd    tenderness    fbr 

:    :     conceal  frran  his 

.  n.;   -  :  ..resquc 


Ah  ' 


CMC^: 


-ed  to  Diasa — "  As 


g :::: 

breed' 
scr-r 

c 

SI-    - 


-rffe  l)es"g 


iM  of   :  r 


'  inU>«1^ 


unto   an 

'     :  '     '.'J 


Pan,  c 
r^akas  t" 


u 


Windsor  Forest 


all    his    fellows,    who    5:ri  red     -'r.t:'       riri-  ,1 

brains"  for    flattering   odes  to    r./i.t    ::  -  A 

fine  and  sober  tribute  is  paid  to  the  vir:  _  t :  \:  ^  : :  i 
Sir  William  Trumbull — 

Who  to  L:i«e  -h^Ccs  renrcs, 
WhcMD  nature  cfaanns,  and  irtMin  die  Muse  inspires. 

Trumbull  is  represented  as  gatho-!-;-  -riliii  from 
herbs,  marking  the  course  of  roUiii^  '  S  Plaiting 
the  **  mineral  powers  "  with  his  chemi^  ^  l.  unlocking 
the  stores  of  andent  writ,  and  ihas  enioving^  •*  suc- 
cessive studjr,  exoxise,  and  ease." 


-w-  -  ■ 


Ac! 

Forest  is  spc    :  :"t  .    pant_       :    :' 

Lansdowne.  Wao  si  :  '~  vr  -"ii 
poet  inquires,  since  Fa:r  r  r  -.  .zl  the  •  '  r 
voices  of  Denham  and  Cowiey  r  In  i^tz't 
tures  he  rev      - 

B.:  bark  I  tbe  groves  rejmce,  ffae  fofestnogs! 
.- :        vse  revrred?    Or  is  it  GianYflle  sin^  ? 

T  aiy  lofd,  to  bless  oar  5.:  n  rt~ti3 

^ loses  to  tfaeir  anc! ---.    -i.\ 

-;  ^^_:;  _         r'.e  flow^iy  syiwar     :t    7 
To  crovn  : " .      -r?ts  intt  frrrascr:      .  •  7 r  - : 
Make  Wiri  5       r 

And  lift  her  mrrezs  zz;  -:  :     :z  :     7f 
To  ai^  those  r    - :  _ :  -     :_     z  t     t  t  ir. 

And  add) 


A  poetical  acco_ 
throes  that  Winds  ; 
invotved  her      5.;rz: 
the  Ues 


76  Mr.  Pope 

cease,"  Father  Thames  rose  up  from  his  oozy  bed, 
and  into  his  mouth  is  put  the  famous  panegyric 
on  the  Peace,  from  which  the  following  prophecy 
may  be  quoted : 

The  time  shall  come  when,  free  as  seas  or  wind, 

Unbounded  Thames  shall  flow  for  all  mankind, 

Whole  nations  enter  with  each  swelling  tide, 

And  seas  but  join  the  regions  they  divide  ; 

Earth's  distant  ends  our  glory  shall  behold, 

And  the  new  world  launch  forth  to  seek  the  old. 

Then  ships  of  uncouth  form  shall  stem  the  tide, 

And  feathered  people  crowd  my  wealthy  side ; 

And  naked  youths  and  painted  chiefs  admire 

Our  speech,  our  colour,  and  our  strange  attire. 

Oh  !  stretch  thy  reign,  fair  Peace  !  from  shore  to  shore, 

Till  conquest  cease  and  slavery  be  no  more  ; 

Till  the  freed  Indians,  in  their  native  groves, 

Reap  their  own  fruits  and  woo  their  sable  loves  ; 

Peru  once  more  a  race  of  kings  behold, 

And  other  Mexicos  be  roofed  with  gold. 

To  give  even  a  fictitious  lustre  to  the  inglorious 
Peace  of  Utrecht  the  inspiration  of  genius  was  neces- 
sary. The  Whigs  and  Tories  appear  to  have  ex- 
changed characters  since  the  days  of  Anne.  Then, 
the  Tories  were  the  Little  Englanders,  the  lovers  of 
peace  at  any  price,  economical  of  their  country's 
glory,  willing  to  rob  Marlborough  and  England  of 
the  fruits  of  victory  as  long  as  they  could  save  the 
tax-payers'  pockets,  and  hang  on  to  power  a  few 
years  longer.  The  Opposition  regarded  the  terms 
of  the  Peace  with  mingled  rage  and  humiliation,  and 
Pope's  Whig  friends  entirely  disapproved  of  the  senti- 
ments of  Father  Thames.  But  it  is  impossible  to 
believe  Spence's  story  that  "  Addison  was  inexpres- 
sibly chagrined  at  the  noble  conclusion  of  '  Windsor 


'* Windsor  Forest*'  77 

Forest,'  both  as  a  politician  and  as  a  poet — as  a 
politician,  because  it  so  highly  celebrated  that  treaty 
of  peace  which  he  deemed  so  pernicious  to  the 
liberties  of  Europe  ;  and  as  a  poet,  because  he  was 
deeply  conscious  that  his  own  '  Campaign,'  that 
gazette  in  rhyme,  contained  no  strokes  of  such  genius 
and  sublime  poetry." 

Few  men  have  been  more  free  from  such  petti- 
ness than  Addison.  He  showed  how  deep  was  his 
chagrin  by  inviting  Pope  to  write  the  Prologue  v 
to  Cato^  which  was  performed  on  April  14  of  this 
year.  The  young  poet,  who  was  quite  shrewd 
enough  to  perceive  the  wisdom  of  being  all  things  to 
all  parties,  readily  undertook  to  write  the  Prologue 
to  a  tragedy  that  was  put  forth  at  the  desire  of  the 
Opposition.  It  was  hoped  that  this  episode  from 
Roman  history  would  be  accepted  by  the  nation  as 
a  warning  of  what  they  might  expect  at  the  hands  of 
an  arbitrary  Government. 

Pope  spent  the  early  months  of  171 3  in 
London,  studying  painting  under  his  friend  Jervas.^ 
He  had  been  worried  by  the  squabbles  that  raged 
round  Mrs.  Weston  and  her  matrimonial  affairs,  and 
was  evidently  glad  to  escape  from  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  Forest  till  the  storm  had  blown  over.  That 
he  had  suffered  the  common  fate  of  those  who 
interfere  in  family  squabbles  may  be  gathered  from 

^  Charles  Jervas,  the  portrait-painter  (c.  1675-1739).  He  was 
a  pupil  of  Kneller's,  and  apparently  almost  as  vain  as  his  master. 
He  painted  many  of  the  beautiful  women  of  his  time,  and  a  number 
of  literary  men,  including  Pope,  Swift,  Arbuthnot,  and  Newton. 
He  was  supposed  to  be  in  love  with  the  Duke  of  Marlborough's 
daughter,  Lady  Bridgewater.  Jervas  made  a  translation  of  "  Don 
Quixote,"  which  ran  through  many  editions. 


78  Mr.  Pope 

a  letter  in  which  he  complains,  with  a  touch  of 
bitterness  :  "  It  is  a  common  practice  now  for 
ladies  to  contract  friendships  as  the  great  folks  in 
ancient  times  entered  into  leagues.  They  sacrificed 
a  poor  animal  between  them,  and  commenced  in- 
violable allies  ipso  facto.  So  now  they  pull  some 
harmless  little  creature  into  pieces,  and  worry  his 
character  together  very  comfortably.  Mrs.  Nelson 
and  Mrs.  Englefield  have  served  me  just  thus,  the 
former  of  whom  has  done  me  all  the  ill  offices  that 
lay  in  her  way,  particularly  with  Mrs.  W[eston],  and 
at  Whiteknights." 

—  At  twenty-five  Pope  found  himself  the  most 
fashionable  poet  of  his  day.  Society  opened  its  doors 
to  him,  and  persons  of  quality  thought  themselves 
honoured  by  his  friendship.  At  the  clubs  and 
coffee-houses  he  had  taken  his  place  among  the 
reigning  wits,  and  even  at  Button's  Addison  was  not 
secure  of  his  supremacy.  Swift,  now  engaged  in 
pouring  out  his  pugnacious  pamphlets  and  bullying 
his  '*  Brothers  "  in  the  Court  and  Cabinet,  was  one  of 
Pope's  most  ardent  admirers.  In  his  "Journal  to 
Stella  "  he  noted  that  Mr.  Pope  had  written  a  very 
fine  poem  called  "  Windsor  Forest,"  and  Stella  was 
commanded  to  read  it.  A  little  later  he  was  to  use  his 
powerful  influence,  in  the  most  practical  manner, 
for  the  advantage  of  his  new  friend. 

Dennis  alone  raised  a  discordant  note,  but  then, 
to  be  damned  by  Dennis  was  rather  a  distinction 
than  otherwise.  "  '  Windsor  Forest,'  "  wrote  the 
critic  in  a  published  letter,  "  is  a  wretched  rhapsody 
not  worthy  the  observation  of  a  man  of  sense." 
Half  the  poem,  he  declared,  had  nothing  in  it  that 


The  Production  of  '*  Cato  '*  79 

was  peculiar  to  the  Forest  ;  the  objects  were  for 
the  most  part  trifling,  such  as  hunting,  fishing,  etc., 
and  the  author  was  "  obscure,  ambiguous,  affected, 
temerarious,  and  barbarous." 

Having  agreed  to  furnish  the  Prologue  to  Cato^ 
Pope  was  allowed  to  read  the  tragedy  in  manuscript. 
"  It  drew  tears  from  me  in  several  parts  of  the  fourth 
and  fifth  acts,"  he  told  Caryll,  "  where  the  beauty  of 
virtue  appears  so  charming  that  I  believe,  if  it  comes 
upon  the  theatre,  we  shall  enjoy  that  which  Plato 
thought  the  greatest  pleasure  an  exalted  soul  could 
be  capable  of — a  view  of  virtue  itself  drest  in  person, 
colour,  and  action.  The  emotion  which  the  mind 
will  feel  from  this  character,  and  the  sentiments  of 
humanity  which  the  distress  of  such  a  person  as  Cato 
will  stir  up  in  us,  must  necessarily  fill  an  audience 
with  so  glorious  a  disposition  and  sovereign  a  love 
of  virtue  that  I  question  if  any  play  has  ever  con- 
duced so  immediately  to  morals  as  this." 

This  account  of  the  play  is  curiously  inconsistent 
with  Pope's  report  (to  Spence)  of  a  conversation  he 
had  with  the  author.  Addison,  he  says,  asked  him 
for  his  candid  opinion  of  the  piece,  and,  after  study- 
ing it  for  three  or  four  days,  "  I  gave  him  my 
sincere  opinion,  which  was,  that  I  thought  he  had 
better  not  act  it,  and  that  he  would  get  reputation 
enough  by  only  printing  it.  This  I  said,  as  thinking 
the  lines  well  written,  but  the  piece  not  theatrical 
enough."  Addison  does  not  appear  to  have  resented 
this  advice,  though,  fortunately  for  himself,  he 
neglected  to  follow  it.  He  explained  that  some 
intimate  friends,  whom  he  could  not  disobhge,  had 
insisted    on   its    being    performed.     He   was   ready, 


8o  Mr.  Pope 

however,  to  alter  anything  that  might  seem  amiss, 
and  Pope  declared,  "  I  believe  he  did  not  leave  a 
single  word  unchanged  that  I  made  any  scruple 
against." 

The  tragedy  was  produced  on  April  13,  and  Pope 
has  left  a  vivid  account  of  its  reception,  from  which 
it  appears  that  he  had  no  desire  to  belittle  his  friend's 
success. 

"  Cato  was  not  so  much  the  wonder  of  Rome  in 
his  days,"  he  wrote  to  Caryll,  "as  he  is  of  Britain  in 
ours,  and,  though  all  the  fooHsh  industry  possible 
has  been  used  to  make  it  a  party  play,  yet  what 
the  author  once  said  of  another  may  be  the  most 
properly  in  the  world  applied  to  him  on  this 
occasion  : 

Envy  itself  is  dumb,  in  wonder  lost, 

And  factions  strive  who  shall  applaud  him  niost.^ 

"  The  numerous  and  violent  claps  of  the  Whig 
party  on  the  one  side  the  theatre  were  echoed  back 
by  the  Tories  on  the  other,  while  the  author  sweated 
behind  the  scenes  with  concern  to  find  their  applause 
proceeded  more  from  the  hand  than  from  the  head. 
This  was  the  case,  too,  of  the  Prologue-writer,  who 
was  clapped  into  a  staunch  Whig,  sore  against  his 
will,  at  almost  every  two  lines.  I  believe  you  have 
heard  that,  after  all  the  applause  of  the  opposite 
faction,  my  Lord  Bolingbroke  sent  for  Booth,  who 
played  Cato,  into  the  box,  between  one  of  the  acts, 
and  presented  him  with  fifty  guineas,  in  acknowledg- 
ment, as  he  expressed  it,  for  his  defending  the  cause 
of  liberty  so  well  against  a  perpetual  dictator.     The 

^  From  "  The  Campaign." 


The  Production  of  '' Cato ''  8i 

Whigs  are  unwilling  to  be  distanced  this  way,  as  it  is 
said,  and  therefore  design  a  present  to  the  said  Cato 
very  speedily.  In  the  meantime  they  are  getting 
ready  as  good  a  sentence  as  the  former  on  their 
side.  So  betwixt  them  it  is  probable  that  Cato,  as 
Dr.  Garth  expressed  it,  may  have  something  to  live 
upon  after  he  dies." 

A  curious  contemporary  allusion  to  the  perform- 
ance is  to  be  found  in  a  letter  from  Dr.  Berkeley, 
the  future  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  to  Mr.  Percival,  which 
is  preserved  among  Lord  Egmont's  manuscripts.^ 
"  I  was  present,"  he  writes,  "  with  Mr.  Addison 
and  two  or  three  more  friends  in  a  side-box,  where 
we  had  a  table  and  two  or  three  flasks  of  Burgundy 
and  champagne,  with  which  the  author  (who  is  a 
very  sober  man)  thought  it  necessary  to  support 
his  spirits  ;  .  .  .  and  indeed  it  was  a  pleasant 
refreshment  to  us  all  between  the  acts.  Some 
parts  of  the  Prologue,  written  by  Mr.  Pope, 
a  Tory  and  even  a  Papist,  were  hissed,  being 
thought  to  savour  of  Whiggism,  but  the  clap 
got  much  the  better  of  the  hiss.  Lord  Harley, 
who  sat  in  the  next  box  to  us,  was  observed  to 
clap  as  loud  as  any  in  the  house  all  the  time  of 
the  play." 

^  Historical  MSS.  Commission.     Appendix  to  7th  Report. 


VOL.    I 


CHAPTER   IX 


1713 


Articles  in  **  The  Guardian  ^* — **  The  Narrative 

of  Dr.  Norris '' 

IN  the  spring  of  17 13  a  series  of  papers  on 
"  Pastoral  Poetry  "  appeared  in  the  newly 
started  Guardian.  In  these  papers,  which  were 
generally  attributed  to  Tickell,  Ambrose  Philips's 
"  Pastorals  "  were  highly  praised,  while  Pope's  were 
passed  over  in  silence.  The  writer  went  so  far  as  to 
say  that  there  had  been  only  four  masters  of  the 
pastoral  art  in  two  thousand  years — "  Theocritus, 
who  left  his  dominions  to  Virgil  ;  Virgil,  who  left 
his  to  his  son  Spenser  ;  and  Spenser,  who  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  eldest-born,  Philips."  A  shot  at  Pope 
was  evidently  intended  in  the  commendation  given  to 
Philips  for  introducing  English  fairies  into  English 
eclogues,  instead  of  the  gods  and  goddesses  of  a 
creed  outworn. 

Pope,  whose  natural  vanity  had  been  inflamed  by 
his  early  success,  revenged  himself,  in  characteristic 
fashion,  for  the  contemptuous  neglect  with  which  his 
own  work  had  been  treated.  He  sent  an  anonymous 
paper  to  The  Guardian,  in  which  he  dealt  out 
Ironical  praise  to  Philips  and  ironical  blame  to  him- 

82 


Articles  in  "  The  Guardian  **  83 

self.  It  is  commonly  supposed  that  Steele  did  not 
trouble  himself  to  read  the  paper,  or  else  that  he 
glanced  through  it  hurriedly  without  perceiving  its 
drift.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  he  saw  the  joke, 
and  was  prepared  to  enjoy  it.^  Be  that  as  it  may, 
the  article  was  printed,  and  seems  to  have  deceived 
many  of  the  elect,  though  not  the  victim  of  the 
sarcasm.  It  must  be  confessed  that  Pope  conducted 
his  attack  in  a  most  unsportsmanlike  style,  picking 
out  some  of  Philips's  worst  lines  as  average  specimens 
of  his  style,  and  ridiculing  him  for  errors  of  taste 
which  he — Pope — had  also  committed.^  The  whole 
paper  is  permeated  with  indirect  praise  of  his  own 
"  Pastorals,"  conveyed  in  terms  of  blame  which  re- 
coiled on  his  own  head,  for  the  condemnation  was 
taken  literally  by  matter-of-fact  readers. 

Pope  alludes  to  himself  as  "  that  gentleman  whose 
character  it  is  that  he  takes  the  greatest  care  of  his 
works  before  they  are  published,  and  has  the  least 
concern  for  them  afterwards."  Mr.  Pope,  he  ex- 
plained, had  fallen  into  the  same  error  as  Virgil,  for 
his  clowns  did  not  converse  in  all  the  simplicity 
proper  to  the  country.  "  He  introduces  Alexis  and 
Thyrsis  on  British  plains,  as  Virgil  had  done  before 
him  on  the  Mantuan  ;  whereas  Philips,  who  hath  the 
strictest  regard  to  propriety,  makes  choice  of  names 

*  It  is  said  that  Steele  showed  the  article  to  Pope,  declaring  that 
he  would  never  publish  any  paper  in  which  one  member  of  the 
club  was  complimented  at  the  expense  of  another.  Pope,  pro- 
fessing to  be  magnanimously  indifferent  to  the  blame,  insisted  that 
the  paper  should  be  published. 

^  For  example,  making  spring  and  autumn  flowers  bloom  at  the 
same  time,  introducing  animals  that  were  not  native  to  England, 
and  writing  mechanical  imitations  of  the  ancients. 


84  Mr.  Pope 

peculiar  to  the  country,  such  as  Hobbinol,  Lobbin, 
Cuddy  and  Colin  Clout." 

After  comparing  some  of  Phihps's  lines  with  his 
own  rendering  of  similar  subjects,^  the  satirist  con- 
cludes :  "  After  all  that  hath  been  said,  I  hope  none 
can  think  it  an  injustice  to  Mr.  Pope  that  I  forebore 
to  mention  him  as  a  pastoral  writer,  since,  upon  the 
whole,  he  is  of  the  same  class  with  Moschus  and 
Bion,  whom  we  have  excluded  that  rank  ;  and  of 
whose  eclogues,  as  well  as  some  of  Virgil's,  it  may  be 
said  that  (according  to  the  description  we  have  given 
of  this  sort  of  poetry)  they  are  by  no  means  pastorals, 
but  something  better." 

There  is  a  tradition  that  Philips,  having  seen 
through  the  irony  of  the  paper  on  pastoral  poetry, 
hung  up  a  rod  at  Button's,  and  threatened  to  use  it 
on  his  fellow-Arcadian,  should  he  ever  show  his  face 
there  again.  Cibber,  in  his  "Letter  to  Mr.  Pope," 
published  thirty  years  later,  alludes  to  this  incident 
and  to  the  conduct  that  had  provoked  it.  "  When 
you  used  to  pass  your  hours  at  Button's,"  he  re- 
minds the  poet,  "  you  were  even  there  remarkable 
for  your  satirical  itch  of  provocation.  Scarce  was 
there  a  gentleman  of  any  pretension  to  wit  whom 

'  The   difference   is   not   so   enormous.     For   example,  one   of 
Philips's  shepherds  sings  : 

As  I  to  cool  me  bathed  one  sultry  day, 

Fond  Lydia  lurking  in  the  sedges  lay. 

The  wanton  laughed,  and  seemed  in  haste  to  fly, 

Yet  often  stopped  and  often  turned  her  eye. 

Pope's  Strephon  is  eqxiSiWy  fade  when  he  warbles  : 

Me  gentle  Delia  beckons  from  the  plains, 
Then,  hid  in  shades,  eludes  her  eager  swains  ; 
But  feigns  a  laugh  to  see  me  search  around. 
And  by  that  laugh  the  willing  fair  is  found. 


Articles  in  ''The  Guardian'*  85 

your  unguarded  temper  had  not  fallen  upon  in  some 
biting  epigram  ;  amongst  which  you  once  caught  a 
pastoral  Tartar,  whose  resentment,  that  your  punish- 
ment might  be  proportioned  to  the  smart  of  your 
poetry,  had  stuck  up  a  birchen  rod  in  the  room,  to  be 
ready  whenever  you  might  come  within  reach  of  it ; 
and  at  this  rate  you  writ  and  rallied  and  writ  on, 
till  you  rhymed  yourself  quite  out  of  the  coffee- 
house." 

Another  paper,  contributed  by  Pope  to  The 
Guardian  (May  21,  17 13),  was  on  a  less  contentious 
subject,  namely,  the  treatment  of  animals.  In  those 
days  the  crime  of  cruelty  to  animals  could  hardly  be 
said  to  exist,  since  no  suffering  that  man  thought  fit 
to  inflict  on  the  dumb  beasts  that  had  been  created 
for  his  own  use — or  abuse — was  considered  cruel. 
The  average  reader,  therefore,  must  have  found  some- 
thing startlingly  heterodox  in  the  remark  :  "  I  cannot 
think  it  extravagant  to  imagine  that  mankind  are  no 
less,  in  proportion,  accountable  for  their  ill-use  over 
creatures  of  the  lower  rank  of  being  than  for  the 
exercise  of  their  tyranny  over  their  own  species." 
Montaigne  had  said  that  {qw  people  take  delight 
in  seeing  beasts  caress  or  play  together,  but  almost 
every  one  is  pleased  to  see  them  lacerate  and  worry 
one  another.  "  I  am  sorry,"  comments  Pope,  "  that 
this  temper  is  become  almost  a  distinguishing  char- 
acter of  our  own  nation,  from  the  observation  that  is 
made  by  foreigners  of  our  beloved  pastimes — bear- 
baiting,  cock-fighting,  and  the  like."  Even  more 
barbarous  than  our  sports,  however,  was  our  gluttony. 
Lobsters  roasted  alive,  pigs  whipped  to  death, 
fowls  sewed  up,  were  testimonies  of  the  prevailing 


86  Mr.  Pope 

outrageous  luxury.  "  Those  who  divide  their  time 
betwixt  an  anxious  conscience  and  a  nauseated 
stomach  have  a  just  reward  of  their  gluttony  in  the 
diseases  it  brings  with  it  ;  for  human  savages,  like 
other  wild  beasts,  find  snares  and  poison  in  the 
provisions  of  life,  and  are  allured  by  their  appetite 
to  their  destruction.  I  know  nothing  more  shock- 
ing and  horrid  than  the  prospect  of  one  of  their 
kitchens  covered  with  blood,  and  filled  with  cries 
of  creatures  expiring  in  tortures." 

We  have  seen  how  one  "  Popish  trick  "  was 
played  on  a  rival  in  the  spring  of  this  year,  and  only 
a  few  months  later  another  was  perpetrated  on  a 
hostile  critic.  Dennis  had  published  some  "  Remarks 
on  C(?/o,"  which,  like  most  of  his  criticisms,  consisted 
chiefly  of  virulent  abuse.  Pope  at  once  took  up 
the  cudgels,  ostensibly  on  behalf  of  Addison,  but 
actually  on  behalf  of  himself  and  his  "  Essay  on 
Criticism."  He  brought  out  a  scurrilous  pamphlet 
called  "  The  Narrative  of  Dr.  Robert  Norris  concern- 
ing the  strange  and  deplorable  frenzy  of  Mr.  John 
Dennis,  an  officer  of  the  Custom-house."  This 
attack,  like  the  majority  of  Pope's  prose  satires,  was 
as  dull  as  Dennis's  criticisms,  and  a  good  deal  dirtier. 
Pope,  observes  Macaulay,  could  dissect  a  character  in 
terse,  sonorous  couplets,  brilliant  with  antithesis,  but 
of  dramatic  talent  he  was  altogether  destitute.  "  If 
he  had  written  a  lampoon  on  Dennis,  such  as  that 
on  Atticus,  the  old  critic  would  have  been  crushed 
for  ever.  But  Pope  writing  dialogue  resembled — 
to  borrow  Horace's  imagery  and  his  own — a  wolf 
which,  instead  of  biting,  should  take  to  kicking,  or  a 
monkey  which  should  try  to  sting.     The  Narrative 


''The  Narrative  of  Dr.  Norris ''         87 

is  utterly  contemptible.  Of  argument  there  is  not 
even  the  show  ;  and  the  jests  are  such  as,  if  they 
were  introduced  into  a  farce,  would  call  forth  the 
hisses  of  the  shilling  gallery." 

Norris  was  a  well-known  quack  physician,  and  in 
the  Narrative  an  old  woman  comes  to  the  doctor's 
house  to  call  him  to  her  master,  Mr.  Dennis,  who  is 
raving  aloud,  and  muttering  the  word  Cator,  or  Cato. 
"Now,  doctor,"  says  the  messenger,  "this  Cato  is 
certainly  a  witch,  and  my  master  is  under  an  evil 
tongue,  for  I  have  heard  him  say  that  Cato  has 
bewitched  the  whole  nation." 

Norris  goes  to  Dennis's  lodgings,  and  finds  him 
in  a  room  hung  with  old  tapestry,  which  had  several 
holes  in  it,  caused  by  his  having  cut  out  of  it  the 
heads  of  divers  tyrants,  the  fierceness  of  whose 
visages  had  much  provoked  him.^  "  On  all  sides  of 
his  room,"  relates  Norris,  "  were  pinned  a  great 
many  sheets  of  a  tragedy  called  Cato,  with  notes  on 
the  margin  in  his  own  hand.  The  words  '  absurd,' 
'  monstrous,'  '  execrable,'  were  everywhere  written  in 
such  large  characters  that  I  could  read  them  without 
my  spectacles." 

Lintot  and  a  grave,  middle-aged  gentleman  (pro- 
bably intended  for  Cromwell)  are  sitting  by  the 
patient's  bedside,  and,  after  Dennis  has  raved  against 
Cato,  declaring  that  he  is  sick  of  the  sentiments,  of 
the  diction,  of  the  protasis,  of  the  epitasis,  and  the 
catastrophe,    Lintot    gives  the   following  account  of 

^  An    allusion    to    the    lines    on    Appius   in   "  The   Essay   on 
Criticism  "  : 

But  Appius  reddens  at  each  word  you  speak, 
And  stares  tremendous  with  a  threat 'ning  eye, 
Like  some  fierce  tyrant  in  old  tapestry. 


88  Mr.  Pope 

the  fashion  in  which  the  critic  was  first  attacked  by 
his  malady  : 

"That  on  the  17th  of  May,  17 12,  between  the 
hours  of  ten  and  eleven  in  the  morning,  Mr.  John 
Dennis  entered  his  shop,  and,  opening  one  of  the 
volumes  of  'The  Spectator  in  large  paper,  did  suddenly, 
without  the  least  provocation,  tear  out  that  of  No.  — 
[40],  where  the  author  treats  of  poetical  justice,^  and 
cast  it  into  the  street.  That  the  said  Mr.  John 
Dennis,  on  the  27th  of  March,  17 12,  finding  on  the 
said  Mr.  Lintot's  counter  a  book  called  an  '  Essay 
on  Criticism,' just  then  published,  he  read  a  page  or 
two  with  much  frowning,  till,  coming  to  these  lines: 

Some  have  at  first  for  wits,  then  poets  passed, 
Turned  critics  next,  and  proved  plain  fools  at  last, 

he  flung  down  the  book  in  a  terrible  fury,  and  cried, 
'  By  God,  he  means  me  !  '  " 

But  the  reader  will  probably  have  had  enough, 
though  only  the  more  "  polite  "  parts  of  the  satire 
have  been  quoted.  It  was  small  wonder  that 
Addison  repudiated  any  share  in  the  Narrative.  He 
caused  Steele  "  to  write  the  following  dignified  rebuke 
to  Lintot,  who  had  published  the  pamphlet  : 

"  Mr.  Addison  desired  me  to  tell  you  he  wholly 
disapproves  the  manner  of  treating  Mr.  Dennis  in 
a  little  pamphlet  by  way   of   Dr.   Norris's  account. 

^  In  his  critical  pamphlets  Dennis  had  published  his  adherence 
to  the  theory  of  "  poetical  justice,"  which  was  ridiculed  in  The 
Spectator. 

*  Mr.  Dilke  held  the  theory  that  Steele  himself  wrote  the 
Narrative.  Pope  denied  the  authorship  to  Caryll,  but  such 
denials  were  only  a  figure  of  speech.  Dennis  had  no  doubt  that 
the  lampoon  was  by  Pope,  and  it  strongly  resembles  his  other 
prose  satires. 


The  Scriblerus  Club  89 

When  he  thinks  fit  to  take  notice  of  Mr.  Dennis's 
objections  to  his  writings,  he  will  do  it  in  a  way 
Mr  Dennis  shall  have  no  just  reason  to  complain  of; 
but  when  the  papers  above  mentioned  were  offered  to 
be  communicated  to  him,  he  said  he  could  not,  either 
in  honour  or  conscience,  be  privy  to  such  a  treatment, 
and  was  sorry  to  hear  of  it." 

By  this  time  Pope,  having  made  Button's  too  hot 
to  hold  him,  was  eager  to  form  a  rival  literary  club, 
in  which  there  should  be  no  Cato  to  "  give  his  little 
senate  laws."  The  atmosphere  of  Button's  was 
probably  too  Whiggish  to  please  the  wits  of  the 
opposite  camp,  now  that  party  feeling  was  running 
high.  The  Scriblerus  Club  was  started  in  the  course 
of  this  year,  its  chief  supporters  being  Swift,  Pope, 
Arbuthnot,  ^  and  Gay,  while  the  members  numbered 
such  distinguished  names  as  Congreve,  Atterbury, 
and  Parnell.^  Even  the  Lord  Treasurer  would  some- 
times steal  away  from  the  cares  of  State  to  join  the 
meetings  of  the  Scriblerus,  where  he  played  the  part 
of  a  lord  among  wits,  a  role  which  suited  him  much 
better  than  that  of  a  wit  among  lords. 

The  Scriblerus  does  not  appear  to  have  developed 

1  Dr.  John  Arbuthnot  (1667-1735),  the  witty  Scotchman  who 
was  appointed  Physician  Extraordinary  to  Queen  Anne  in  1705. 
He  wrote  the  "  History  of  John  Bull,"  "The  Art  of  Political  Lying," 
and  other  skits.  He  took  little  pains  to  preserve  his  writings,  but 
allowed  his  children  to  make  kites  of  his  papers.  Swift  said, 
"  The  doctor  has  more  humanity  than  we  all  have,  and  his 
humanity  is  equal  to  his  wit." 

2  Thomas  Parnell,  the  Irish  poet  (1679-17 18).  He  contributed 
some  papers  to  The  Spectator  and  The  Guardian.  His  best-known 
poems  are  "  The  Hermit "  and  "  The  Fairy  Tale."  He  was  a 
minor  Canon  of  Dublin  Cathedral,  and  became  Vicar  of  Finglas 
in  1716. 


90  Mr.  Pope 

into  a  social  or  party  club  on  the  usual  lines, 
with  a  local  habitation  and  regular  meetings.  It 
was  rather  a  society  of  literary  men,  all  intimate 
friends,  who  met  informally  to  discuss  projects  for 
skits  and  jeux  d' esprit  which  were  to  bring  confusion 
upon  their  natural  enemies — hack-writers  and  hostile 
critics.  A  grand  scheme  was  planned  for  a  compre- 
hensive satire  in  prose  upon  follies  and  abuses  in 
every  branch  of  science,  comprised  in  the  history 
of  the  life  and  writings  of  Martinus  Scriblerus, 
which  was  to  be  undertaken  by  Swift,  Pope,  and 
Arbuthnot,  with  assistance  from  other  members. 
The  club  broke  up,  however,  or  was  dispersed, 
amid  the  agitations  and  excitements  of  the  year  171 5, 
when  Tory  societies  were  regarded  with  a  just 
suspicion.  The  great  schemes  ended  in  some 
brilliant  fragments,  a  scrap-heap  of  wit  which  con- 
tained the  germs  of  at  least  two  immortal  works — 
"  Gulliver's  Travels  "  and  "  The  Dunciad."  ^ 

Pope  spent  the  summer,  as  usual,  between  Binfield 
and  London.  While  in  town  he  studied  painting 
with  Jervas  in  the  mornings,  and  spent  the  evenings 
in  the  conversation  of  such  friends  as  he  thought  most 
likely  to  improve'  his  mind,  irrespective  of  party 
or  denomination.  In  a  rather  grandiloquent  account 
of  his  coffee-house  society,  evidently  intended  to 
impress  the  "  country  wits  "  of  Caryll,^  he  says  : 

"  This    minute,    perhaps,    I    am    above    the  stars, 

^  The  idea  for  Pope's  organ,  The  Grub  Street  Jour}ial^  was 
probably  suggested  by  a  proposed  Scriblerus  satire,  which  was 
to  treat  of  the  "  Works  of  the  Unlearned  "  in  terms  of  ironical 
praise. 

2  In  the  edition  of  the  correspondence  published  in  1735,  *^his 
letter  is  addressed  to  Addison. 


Progress  in  Painting  91 

with  a  thousand  systems  round  about  me,  looking 
forward  into  the  vast  abyss  of  eternity,  and  losing 
my  whole  comprehension  in  the  boundless  spaces 
of  the  extended  creation,  in  dialogues  with  Whiston 
and  the  astronomers  ;  the  next  moment  I  am  below 
all  trifles,  even  grovelling  with  T[idcombe]  ^  in  the 
very  centre  of  nonsense.  Now  am  1  recreating  my 
mind  with  the  brisk  sallies  and  quick  turns  of  wit 
which  Mr.  Steele,  in  his  liveliest  and  freest  humours, 
darts  about  him  ;  and  now  levelling  apprehension  to 
the  insignificant  observations  and  quirks  of  grammar 
of  Mr.   C[romwell]  and  D[ennis]." 

His  study  of  painting,  however  unsuccessful  may 
have  been  the  results,  was  teaching  him  discoveries 
that  hitherto  had  been  imperceptible  to  him.  Every 
corner  of  an  eye,  or  turn  of  an  ear,  the  smallest 
degree  of  light  or  shade  in  cheek  or  a  dimple,  now 
had  powers  to  distract  him.  Every  day,  he  com- 
plained to  Gay,  the  performances  of  others  appeared 
more  excellent  and   his   own   more  despicable. 

"  I  have  thrown  away  three  Dr.  Swifts,  each  of 
whom  was  once  my  vanity,  two  Lady  Bridgewaters, 
a  Duchess  of  Montagu,  besides  half-a-dozen  earls 
and  one  knight  of  the  garter.  I  have  crucified  Christ 
over  again  in  effigy,  and  made  a  Madonna  as  old  as 
her  mother,  St.  Anne.    Nay,  what  is  more  miraculous, 

^  Tidcombe  was  a  friend  of  Cromwell,  a  frequenter  of  Will's,  and 
apparently  a  butt  of  the  wits.  Pope  often  alludes  to  him,  always 
in  a  tone  of  friendly  contempt.  In  one  letter  to  Cromwell,  he 
says  :  "  I  would  as  soon  write  like  Durfey  as  live  like  Tidcombe, 
v/hose  beastly,  laughable  life  is  at  once  nasty  and  diverting." 
For  a  time  Tidcombe  seems  to  have  been  expelled  from  Will's,  but 
later  was  restored,  to  the  great  joy  of  Cromwell,  "  who  was  at  a 
great  loss  for  a  person  to  converse  with  upon  the  Fathers  and 
church  history." 


92  Mr.  Pope 

I  have  rivalled  St.  Luke  himself  in  painting,  and, 
as  it  is  said  an  angel  came  and  finished  his  piece, 
so  you  would  swear  a  devil  put  the  last  hand  to 
mine,  it  is  so  begrimed  and  smutted.  However, 
I  comfort  myself  with  a  Christian  reflection  that  I 
have  not  broken  the  commandment,  for  my  pictures 
are  not  the  likeness  of  anything  in  heaven  above, 
or  in  the  earth  below,  or  in  the  waters  under  the 
earth.  Neither  will  anybody  adore  or  worship  them, 
except  the  Indians  should  have  a  sight  of  them,  who, 
they  tell  us,  worship  certain  pagods  or  idols  purely 
for  their  ugliness." 


CHAPTER    X 

1713 

Proposals  for  the  Translation  of  the  ** Iliad*' 

T^HE  study  of  painting  was  the  ostensible,  but 
^  not  the  actual,  purpose  of  Pope's  frequent  visits 
to  London  during  the  summer  of  17 13.  He  was 
preparing  the  ground  for  an  important  undertaking 
which,  he  hoped,  would  reward  him  with  both  fame 
and  fortune.  Though  his  works  had  already- 
brought  him  a  great  reputation,  he  had  earned  very 
little  hard  cash.  From  Lintot's  account-book  it  ap- 
pears that  Pope  had  received  ^32  5^.  for  "  Windsor 
Forest,"  £j  for  the  first  version  of  "The  Rape  of 
the  Lock,"  £\6  is.  6d.  for  translations  from  Statius, 
and  ^3  i6s.  6d.  for  the  three  pieces  in  Lintot's 
"  Miscellany,"  How  much  he  received  for  the 
"  Pastorals  "  or  for  the  first  edition  of  the  "  Essay  on 
Criticism  "  is  not  known,  but  for  a  new  edition  of 
the  Essay  which  was  published  in  171 6,  when  his 
reputation  was  established,  Lintot  only  paid  ^15. 
If  Pope  had  ever  seriously  thought  of  earning  a 
living  by  his  brush,  he  was  now  convinced  of  the 
impracticability  of  that  plan.  Though  he  could 
depend  on  free  quarters  at  Binfield,  he  needed  an 
independent  income  such  as  would  enable  him  to 
buy   books,  to  move  about  freely,  and  to  hold  his 

93 


94  Mr,  Pope 

own  among  his  friends  in  town.  Moreover,  his 
state  of  health  rendered  it  necessary  that  he  should 
keep  a  horse,  have  medical  attendance,  and  pay 
occasional  visits  to  the  Bath. 

The  young  man  had  already  proved  that  it  was 
impossible  to  live  by  writing  original  poetry,  and  he 
probably  realised  that,  apart  from  "  the  Rape  of  the 
Lock,"  his  best  work  was  to  be  found  in  his  imitations 
and  translations.  As  early  as  1708  Sir  William 
Trumbull,  after  reading  Pope's  version  of  the 
episode  of  Sarpedon,  had  urged  him  to  proceed 
in  translating  Homer,  "  to  make  him  speak  good 
English,  to  dress  his  admirable  characters  in  your 
proper  significant  and  expressive  conception,  and  to 
make  his  works  as  useful  and  instructive  to  this 
degenerate  age  as  he  was  to  our  friend  Horace." 

At  this  time  the  translations  of  the  classics  were 
regarded  as  safer  and  more  profitable  speculations 
by  the  booksellers  than  original  poetry,  and  now 
that  Chapman's  version  of  Homer  was  considered 
uncouth  and  barbarous,  while  the  renderings  of 
Hobbes  ^  and  Ogilby  ^  were  found  dull  and  prosaic, 
there  seemed  a  good  opening  for  a  new  translation 
of  the  "  Ihad."  During  the  months  that  Pope  spent 
in  London  he  was  doubtless  feeling  the  pulse  of  the 
patrons,  the  public,  and  the  booksellers.  He  had 
now  made  a  number  of  powerful  friends  in  the 
Ministerial   party,   and   as  long  as  an  author  could 

*  The  philosopher,  Thomas  Hobbes,  finished  his  translation  of 
Homer  about  1674,  when  he  was  eighty-six  years  of  age. 

^  John  Ogilby  (1600-1676)  began  life  as  a  dancing-master.  He 
was  afterwards  Master  of  the  Revels  in  Ireland.  Later  he  set 
up  a  printing  press  in  London,  and  published  his  verse-translation 
of  Homer  in  about  1660. 


Proposals  for  Translation  of  the  **  Iliad  ^*     95 

depend   on   influential   support,   publication   by  sub- 
scription was  held  to  be  the  best  means  of  obtaining 
krge   profits.     Pope   adopted  this  method,  and  his 
proposals  for  a  new  translation   of  the  "  Iliad,"  with 
introduction,    notes,  and    maps,  issued    in  October, 
171 3,  met  with  a  ready  response.     Tonson  had  made 
an  offer   for   the   work,   but  he   had  been  outbid  by 
Bernard   Lintot,  who  agreed  to  pay  ;/^200  for  each 
volume   and    to   supply   sets   to  subscribers  free   of 
charge.      As    there   were   six    volumes    at   a   guinea 
each,   and  as  the  poet  was  able  to  secure   nearly  six 
hundred    subscribers,   many    of   whom  took  several 
sets,  it  will  be  understood  that  his  profits  amounted 
to    a    very    considerable    sum  !  ^     Pope    was    not    a 
Greek  scholar,  nor  did  he  possess  the  special  critical 
learning     that     nowadays     would     be     considered 
essential  to  any  man  who  proposed  to  translate  and 
annotate    Homer.     But    in    the  easy-going  days  of 
Queen  Anne  ignorance  of  Greek  was  not  regarded 
as  any  serious  impediment  to  the  carrying  out  of  such 
a    gigantic    task.     There   were  accurate  translations 
of  the  "  Iliad  "  in  Latin,  French  and  English  which 
could  be    consulted   for    the   "  sense,"    notes    could 
be    borrowed,    with,    or    without    acknowledgment 
from    dry-as-dust    commentators,    and    some    sound 
*'  Grecian "    could    be    found    to    supply  the  Intro- 
duction.      Few    persons    ventured    to     doubt    that 
Homer,    like    Isaiah,    would   appear  "  to  advantage 
dressed"  in  the  flowing  robes  of  Pope's  heroic  verse. 
The    poet's    friends    canvassed    industriously    for 
subscriptions.       It    could     not    have    been    easy    to 

^  It  is  reckoned  that  he  cleared  from  the  "  Iliad  "  alone  between 
;/^ 5,000  and  ^6,000.     But  he  spent  six  years  on  the  work. 


96  Mr.  Pope 

persuade  people,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  author, 
to  invest  in  a  six-guinea  translation  of  the  "  Iliad," 
but  Caryll  obtained  no  fewer  than  thirty-eight  sub- 
scribers, and  Swift  used  his  then  almost  unbounded 
influence  with  his  own  party.  Bishop  Kennet  ^  notes 
in  his  Diary  for  November  2,  1713  : 

"  Dr.  Swift  came  into  the  coffee-house  and  had  a 
bow  from  everybody  but  me,  who,  I  confess,  could 
not  but  despise  him.  When  I  came  into  the  anti- 
chamber  to  wait,  before  prayers,  Dr.  Swift  was  the 
principal  man  of  talk  and  business,  and  acted  as 
master  of  requests.  Then  he  instructed  a  young 
nobleman  that  the  best  poet  in  England  was  Mr.  Pope 
(a  Papist),  who  had  begun  a  translation  of  Homer 
into  English  verse,  for  which  he  must  have  them  all 
subscribe ;  for,  says  he,  the  author  shall  not  begin  to 
print  till  I  have  a  thousand  guineas  for  him." 

In  October  Lord  Lansdowne  wrote  to  assure 
Pope  of  his  satisfaction  at  the  proposed  design  of 
translating  Homer.  "  The  trials  which  you  have 
already  made  and  published  on  some  parts  of  that 
author,"  he  remarks,  "  have  shown  that  you  are 
equal  to  so  great  a  task  ;  and  you  may  therefore 
depend  on  the  utmost  services  I  can  do  you  in 
promoting  that  work,  or  anything  that  may  be  for 
your  service."  "  Granville  the  polite  "  could  scarcely 
say  less  after  the  extravagant  compliments  that  had 
been  paid  him  in  "  Windsor  Forest." 

'  White  Kennet  (1660-1728).  At  this  time  he  was  Chaplain-in- 
Ordinary  to  the  Queen,  and  Dean  of  Peterborough.  Later  he 
was  made  Bishop  of  Peterborough.  He  pubHshed  a  "  Complete 
History  of  England,"  and  was  one  of  the  original  members  of 
theS.P.G. 


Proposals  for  Translation  of  the  **  Iliad  **     97 

Addison,  too,  if  we  may  accept  as  more  or  less 
genuine  the  letters  published  under  his  name  in 
Pope's  correspondence/  expressed  his  willingness  to 
help  with  the  canvassing,^  and  adds :  "  As  I  have 
an  ambition  of  having  it  known  you  are  my  friend, 
I  shall  be  very  proud  of  showing  it  by  this,  or  any 
other  instance.  I  question  not  that  your  translation 
will  enrich  our  tongue,  and  do  honour  to  our 
country.  .  .  .  This  work  would  cost  you  a  great 
deal  of  time,  and,  unless  you  undertake  it,  will,  I 
am  afraid,  never  be  executed  by  any  other  ;  at  least 
I  know  none  of  this  age  that  is  equal  to  it  besides 
yourself."  Pope  may  have,  been  alluding  to  this,  or 
some  other  letter  in  the  same  cordial  vein,  when  he 
states  in  the  Preface  to  the  "Iliad"  that  "Mr.  Addison 
was  the  first  whose  advice  determined  me  to  under- 
take the  task,  who  was  pleased  to  write  to  me  on 
that  occasion  in  such  terms  as  I  cannot  repeat  with- 
out vanity." 

It  was  natural  that  at  this  juncture  Pope  should 
be  exceedingly  anxious  to  stand  well  with  the  re- 
presentatives of  all  shades  of  opinion,  both  religious 
and  political,  since  to  offend  any  one  clan  or  sect 
involved  the  loss  of  possible  subscribers.  He  had 
been  concerned  at  finding  that  his  Catholic  friends, 
from  whom  he  looked  for  the  staunchest  support, 
were  offended  by  his  praise  of  Erasmus  and  his 
condemnation  of  the  monks  in  the  "  Essay  on  Criti- 
cism."      "  As  to    my  writings,"    he    observes,    "  I 

^  The  letters  printed  as  from  Addison  to  Pope  may  possibly 
have  been  genuine,  but  those  printed  as  from  Pope  to  Addison 
are  made  up  out  of  letters  to  Caryll. 

^  Pope  said  that  Addison  never  got  him  a  single  subscriber. 

VOL.    I  7 


98  Mr.  Pope 

pray  to  God  they  may  never  have  other  enemies 
than  those  they  have  yet  met  with — which  are  first, 
priests  ;  secondly,  women,  who  are  the  fools  of 
priests  ;  and  thirdly,  beaux  and  fops,  who  are  the 
fools  of  women." 

The  difficulty  of  running  with  the  hare  and 
hunting  with  the  hounds  is  exemplified  by  the  fact 
that  Pope  got  into  trouble  with  some  of  his  Tory 
friends  for  writing  articles  in  the  Whig  Guardian. 
"  An  honest  Jacobite,"  he  says,  in  another  place, 
"  spoke  to  me  the  sense,  or  nonsense,  of  the 
weak  part  of  his  party  very  fairly — that  the  good 
people  took  it  ill  of  me  that  I  writ  with  Steele, 
though  upon  never  so  indifferent  subjects.  This  1 
know  you  will  laugh  at,  as  well  as  I  do.  Yet  I 
doubt  not  many  little  calumniators  and  persons  of 
sour  dispositions  will  take  occasion  hence  to  be- 
spatter me.  I  confess  I  scorn  narrow  souls  of  all 
parties  ;  and  if  I  renounce  my  reason  in  religious 
matters,  I  will  hardly  do  it  in  any  other." 

In  December  Pope  was  back  at  Binfield,  hard  at 
work  upon  his  enlarged  version  of  "  The  Rape  of  the 
Lock,"  which  he  desired  to  finish  before  he  began  his 
translation.  That  the  task  he  had  undertaken  was 
an  Homeric  one  in  every  sense,  he  was  soon  to 
realise,  and  he  confesses  that  he  trembled  at  the 
thought  of  it.  A  disappointment  in  the  subscription 
would  not,  he  declared,  cause  him  any  great  mortifi- 
cation, considering  how  much  of  life  he  was  to 
sacrifice  if  it  succeeded.  Long  afterwards  he  told 
Spence  that  "  In  the  beginning  of  my  translating  the 
*  Iliad,'  I  wished  anybody  would  hang  me  a  hundred 
times.     It  sat  so  heavily  on  my  mind  at  first  that  I 


Proposals  for  Translation  of  the  **  Iliad  **     99 

often  used  to  dream  of  it,  and  do  sometimes  still. 
When  I  fell  into  the  method  of  translating  thirty  or 
forty  verses  before  I  got  up,  and  piddled  with  it  the 
rest  of  the  morning,  it  went  on  easy  enough  ;  and 
when  I  was  thoroughly  got  into  the  way  of  it  I  did 
the  rest  with  pleasure." 

In  the  spring  of  17 13  Swift  had  at  last  received 
promotion  from  his  ministerial  friends,  though  not 
of  the  kind  his  soul  craved.  The  Deanery  of  St. 
Patrick  seemed  a  poor  return  for  services  that  the 
fattest  bishopric  in  England  would  hardly  have 
repaid.  He  had  gone  over  to  Dublin  to  be  in- 
stituted in  the  summer,  but  was  soon  recalled  in 
the  hope  that  he  might  keep  the  peace  between 
"  the  Dragon  "  and  "  the  Captain,"  as  Oxford  and 
Bolingbroke  were  nicknamed.  The  first  published 
letter  from  Pope  to  Swift  is  dated  from  Binfield, 
December  8,  1713,  and  is  chiefly  remarkable  for 
the  "  painful  "  quality  of  its  wit.  The  poet  begins 
by  alluding  to  Swift's  jesting  proposal  to  give  him 
twenty  guineas  to  change  his  religion.  He  professes 
to  think  that  it  would  be  better  worth  his  while 
to  propose  a  change  of  faith  by  subscription  than 
a  translation  of  Homer,  and  adds,  "If  you  can 
move  every  man  in  the  Government  who  has  above 
ten  thousand  pounds  a  year  to  subscribe  as  much  as 
yourself  I  shall  become  a  convert,  as  most  men  do 
when  the  Lord  turns  it  to  their  interest." 

There  is  one  article,  however,  he  must  reserve, 
namely,  prayers  for  the  dead,  and  this  will  be  an 
expensive  item,  since  the  souls  he  is  most  concerned 
for  are  those  of  poets,  painters,  or  heretics.  For 
example,   there  is   Mr.  Jervas,   who  has  grievously 


loo  Mr.  Pope 

offended  in  making  the  likeness  of  almost  all  things 
in  heaven  above  and  the  earth  beneath  ;  and  Mr. 
Gay,  an  unhappy  youth  who  writes  pastorals  ^ 
during  the  time  of  divine  service,  and  whose  case 
is  the  more  deplorable  as  he  has  miserably  lavished 
away  all  the  silver  he  should  have  reserved  for 
his  soul's  health  in  buttons  and  loops  for  his  coat. 
And  lastly,  there  is  Dr.  Swift,  a  clergyman  who, 
by  his  own  confession,  has  composed  more  libels 
than  sermons.  If  too  much  wit  is  dangerous  to 
salvation,  he  must  certainly  be  damned  to  all  eternity  ; 
but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  his  frequent  conversations 
with  great  men  will  cause  him  to  have  less  and 
less  wit  every  day  !  In  conclusion,  Pope  confesses 
his  many  obligations  to  the  dean,  who  "  has  brought 
me  into  better  company  than  I  cared  for,  made  me 
merrier  when  I  was  sick  than  I  had  a  mind  to  be, 
and  put  me  upon  making  poems  on  purpose  that  he 
might  correct  them." 

^  "  The  Shepherds'  Week,"  which  was  intended  as  a  burlesque  of 
Phihps's  "Pastorals." 


CHAPTER    XI 

1714 

**  The  Rape  of  the  Lock '' 

THK  con^nleted  version  of  "The  Rape  of  theLock," 
an  "  Heroi-comicai  poem  in  five  cantos,  with 
the  Rosicrucian  "  machinery,"  was  piiMis^'^d  on 
March  2,  T7r^  Pope,  aware  that  Miss  Fermor 
hau  been  annoyed  by  the  publication  of  the  original 
sketch,  wrote  a  flattering  dedication  to  the  offended 
beauty.  "  I  believe,"  he  remarks,  "  I  have  managed 
the  dedication  so  nicely  that  it  can  neither  hurt 
the  lady  nor  the  author.  I  writ  it  very  lately, 
and  upon  great  deliberation.  The  young  lady 
approves  of  it,  and  the  best  advice  in  the  kingdom 
of  men  of  sense  has  been  made  use  of  in  it,  even 
to  the  Treasurer's.  .  .  .  Not  but  that,  after  all, 
fools  will  talk,  and  fools  will  hear  them." 

In  the  dedication  it  is  explained  that  this  piece 
was  intended  only  to  divert  ''  a  few  young  ladies, 
who  have  good  sense  and  good  humour  enough  to 
laugh,  not  only  at  their  sex's  little  unguarded  follies, 
but  at  their  own.  But  as  it  was  communicated 
with  the  air  of  a  secret,  it  soon  found  its  way  into 
the  world.  An  imperfect  copy  having  been  offered 
to  a  bookseller,  you  had   the  good  nature,  for   my 

lOI 


102  Mr.  Pope 

sake,  to  consent  to  the  publication  of  one  more 
correct.  This  I  was  forced  to  do,  before  I  had 
executed  half  my  design,  for  the  machinery  was 
entirely  wanting  to  complete  it."  The  "  machinery," 
the  writer  proceeds,  is  a  term  invented  by  the 
critics  to  signify  that  part  which  the  deities,  angels 
or  demons  are  made  to  act  in  a  poem.  These 
machines  he  had  determined  to  raise  on  a  very  new 
and  odd  foundation,  the  Rosicrucian  doctrine  of 
spirits.  He  is  aware  how  disagreeable  it  is  to  make 
use  of  hard  words  before  a  lady,  and  he  must 
take  leave  to  explain  two  or  three  difficult  terms.^ 

"The  Rosicrucians  are  a  people  I  must  bring 
you  acquainted  with.  The  best  account  I  know 
of  them  is  in  a  French  book  called  Le  Comte  de 
Gabalis,  which  both  in  its  title  and  size  is  so  like 
a  novel  that  many  of  the  fair  sex  have  read  it 
for  one  by  mistake.  According  to  these  gentlemen, 
the  four  elements  are  inhabited  by  spirits  which  they 
call  sylphs,  gnomes,  nymphs,  and  salamanders.  The 
gnomes,  or  demons  of  earth,  delight  in  mischief ; 
but  the  sylphs,  whose  habitation  is  in  the  air,  are 
the  best-conditioned  creatures  imaginable.  For,  they 
say,  any  mortal  may  enjoy  the  most  intimate 
familiarities  with  these  gentle  spirits  upon  a  condition 
very  easy  to  all  true  adepts,  an  inviolable  preserva- 
tion of  chastity.  As  to  the  following  cantos,  all  the 
passages  of  them  are  as  fabulous  as  the  vision  at 
the  beginning,  or    the    transformation    at    the    end, 

'  Pope's  offensively  patronising  tone  is  evidently  quite  un- 
conscious. Yet  any  girl  of  average  intelligence  could  surely 
have  understood  the  Rosicrucian  fairy-tales  without  an  elaborate 
explanation. 


From  An  Piigrnvlng  by  C.  Dii  Ensc  after  a  painting  by  L.  Dii  Ciiernicr. 
"TIIK    RAPE   OF   TIIR    LOCK,"    CANTO    I. 
From  the  second  eililion  of  the  pnrni,  1714. 


c 


'*  The  Rape  of  the  Lock ''  103 

except    the    loss    of    your     hair,    which     I    always 

mention   with    reverence.       The   human   personages 

are  as  fictitious  as  the  airy  ones,  and   the  character 

of  Belinda,  as  it  is  now  managed,  resembles  you  in  A^ 

nothing  but  beauty."  .  j 

The  first  scene  is  laid  in  the  bedroom  of  Belinda, 
who  at  midday  "  still  her  downy  pillow  pressed." 
A  morning  dream  brings  her  a  vision  of  a  youth 
who  whispers  in  her  ear  an  account  of  the  un- 
numbered spirits  that  surround  her,  the  sylphs, 
salamanders,  gnomes,  and  all  the  "  light  militia  of 
the  lower  sky."  The  duty  of  the  sylphs  is  to  guard 
the  purity  of  melting  maids,  and  to  expel  old 
impertinence  by  new.     For  example  : 

What  tender  maid  but  must  a  victim  fall 

To  one  man's  treat  but  for  another's  ball  ? 

When  Florio  speaks  what  virgin  could  withstand, 

If  gentle  Damon  did  not  squeeze  her  hand  ? 

With  varying  vanities  from  every  part, 

They  shift  the  moving  toyshop  of  their  heart ; 

Where  wigs  with  wigs,  with  sword-knots  sword-knots  strive, 

Beaux  banish  beaux,  and  coaches  coaches  drive. 

The  dream-youth  reveals  himself  as  Ariel,  who 
acts  as  Belinda's  special  guardian,  and  he  comes  to 
warn  her  of  some  dread  event,  which  is  then  im- 
pending. She  is  to  beware  of  all,  but  most  beware 
of  man.  At  this  point  Belinda  is  wakened  from 
her  dream  by  Shock,  her  lap-dog,  and  the  rites  of 
the  toilette  begin  the  serious  business  of  her  day. 
Her  attendant.  Mistress  Betty,  assisted  by  the  in- 
visible sylphs,  arranges  her  altar,  the  dressing-table, 
where  the  various  offerings  of  the  world  appear, 
and  decks  the  goddess  with  the  glittering  spoil. 


I04  Mr.  Pope 

This  casket  India's  glowing  gems  unlocks, 
And  all  Arabia  breathes  from  yonder  box. 
The  tortoise  here  and  elephant  unite, 
Transformed  to  combs,  the  speckled  and  the  white. 
Here  files  of  pins  extend  their  shining  rows. 
Puffs,  powders,  patches.  Bibles,  billets-doux. 
Now  awful  beauty  puts  on  all  its  arms  ; 
The  fair  each  moment  rises  in  her  charms, 
Repairs  her  smiles,^  awakens  every  grace, 
And  calls  forth  all  the  wonders  of  her  face. 

In  Canto  II.  we  find  Belinda  "  launched  on  the 
silver^osornof  the  Thames  " — in  plain  prose,  she 
has  set  forth  upon  a  water-party  to  Hampton  Court. 
Though  she  is  surrounded  by  fair  nymphs  and 
well-dressed  youths,  every  eye  is  fixed  on  her  alone. 

Bright  as  the  sun,  her  eyes  the  gazers  strike, 
And,  like  the  sun,  they  shine  on  all  alike. 
Yet  graceful  ease,  and  sweetness  void  of  pride. 
Might  hide  her  faults,  if  belles  had  faults  to  hide. 
If  to  her  share  some  female  errors  fall. 
Look  on  her  face  and  you'll  forget  them  all. 

Chief  among  her  attractions  were  two  locks  which 
hung  on  her  ivory  neck  in  equal  curls.  The  poet, 
moralising  on  the  irresistible  power  of  these  "slender 
chains,"  points  out  that — 

With  hairy  springes  we  the  birds  betray, 
Slight  lines  of  hair  surprise  the  finny  prey,^ 
Fair  tresses  man's  imperial  race  ensnare. 
And  beauty  draws  us  with  a  single  hair.  ^ 

1  "  Repairs  her  smiles  "  is  not  a  happy  expression.  It  suggests 
an  artificial  and  immovable  grimace. 

2  Pope  had  an  insurmountable  objection  to  the  word  "  fish." 
The  "finny  prey"  is  no  improvement  on  the  "scaly  breed"  of 
"  Windsor  Forest." 

3  This  admired  line  is  imitated  from  Dryden's  "  Persius"  : 

She  knows  her  man,  and  when  you  rant  and  swear. 
Can  draw  you  to  her  with  a  single  hair. 


**The  Rape  of  the  Lock'^  105 

The  baron  saw,  admired,  and  coveted  the  locks, 
and  resolved  to  possess  one  by  force  or  fraud.  The 
guardian  sylph,  "  with  careful  thoughts  oppressed," 
rallies  round  him  his  forces,  and  a  delightful  descrip- 
tion follows  of  the  'Mucid  squadrons  of  the  air,"  sylphs, 
sylphids,  fays,  fairies,  elves,  and  genii. -^  Ariel  informs 
his  followers  that  black  omens  threaten  the  fairest  of 
the  fair.  Some  dire  disaster  is  about  to  befall  her, 
though  what  or  where  the  Fates  had  wrapped  in  night. 

Whether  the  nymph  shall  break  Diana's  law, 

Or  some  frail  china  jar  receive  a  flaw  ; 

Or  stain  her  honour  or  her  new  brocade  ; 

Forget  her  prayers,  or  miss  a  masquerade; 

Or  lose  her  heart  or  necklace  at  a  ball  ; 

Or  whether  Heaven  has  doomed  that  Shock  must  fall.^ 

To  each  attendant  svlph  Ariel  gives  one  special 
charge — the  fan  to  Zephyretta,  the  ear-drops  to 
Brilliante,  the  watch  to  Momentilla,  the  favourite 
lock  to  Crispina,  while  he  himself  will  be  the  guard 
of  Shock,  He  concludes  by  addressing  the  following 
awful  warning  to  any  spirit  who  shall  neglect  his  post  or 
prove  careless  of  his  charge.     The  offending  sylph — 

Shall  feel  sharp  vengeance  soon  o'ertake  his  sins, 
Be  stopped  in  phials,  or  transfixed  with  pins ; 

^  Transparent  forms,  too  fine  for  mortal  sight, 

Their  fluid  bodies  half  dissolved  in  light. 

Loose  to  the  wind  their  airy  garments  flew, 

Thin,  glittering  textures  of  the  filmy  dew, 

Dipped  in  the  richest  tincture  of  the  skies, 

Where  light  disports  in  ever-mingling  dyes  ; 

While  every  beam  new  transient  colours   flings. 

Colours  that  change  whene'er  they  wave  their  wings. 
^  Taine  remarks  that  if  Miss  Fermor  had  been  a  French  woman 
she   would   have  returned    Pope   his  book   and  bade   him   learn 
manners.     "All  his  stock  of  phrases  is  but  a  parade  of  gallantry 
which  betrays  indelicacy  and  coarseness," 


io6  Mr.  Pope 

Or  plunged  in  lakes  of  bitter  washes  lie, 
Or  wedged  whole  ages  in  a  bodkin's  eye  ; 
Gums  and  pomatum  shall  his  flight  restrain, 
While  clogged  he  beats  his  silken  wings  in  vain  ; 
Or  alum  styptics,  with  contracting  power, 
Shrink  his  thin  essence  like  a  rivelled  flower  : 
Or,  as  Ixion  fixed,  the  wretch  shall  feel 
The  giddy  motion  of  the  whirling  mill, 
In  fumes  of  burning  chocolate  shall  glow, 
And  tremble  at  the  sea  that  froths  below. 

With  Canto  III.  the  party  arrives  at  Hampton 
CoUrt^~antl''"sevefal  instructive  hours  are  spent  in 
fashionable  conversation. 

One  speaks  the  glory  of  the  British  Queen, 
And  one  describes  a  charming  Indian  screen; 
A  third  interprets  motions,  looks,  and  eyes ; 
At  every  word  a  reputation  dies. 

Tired  at  length  of  gossip,  Belinda  burns  to  en- 
counter two  adventurous  knights,  and  "at  ombre 
singly  to  decide  their  doom."  The  players  assemble, 
the  cards  are  dealt,  and  an  elaborate  description  of 
the  game  follows. ■"•  This  is  the  most  dramatic 
episode  in  the  poem,  but  it  is  too  long  for  quotation. 
Moreover,  it  is  difficult  for  the  modern  reader, 
unfamiliar  with    the   rules  and  terms  of  ombre,  to 

'  The  description  of  the  picture-cards  may  be  quoted  : 

Behold  four  kings,  in  majesty  revered, 
With  hoary  whisker  and  a  forky  beard  ; 
And  four  fair  queens  whose  hands  sustain  a  flower, 
Th'  expressive  emblem  of  their  softer  power ; 
Four  knaves  in  garb  succinct,  a  trusty  band, 
Caps  on  their  heads  and  halberts  in  their  hand  ; 
And  parti-coloured  hoops,  a  shining  train. 
Draw  forth  to  combat  on  the  velvet  plain. 

The  account  of  the  game  at  ombre  is  evidently  suggested  by  the 
game  at  chess  in  Vida's  poem,  "  Scacchia  Ludus," 


"The  Rape  of  the  Lock''  107 

follow  the  fortunes  of  the  mimic  warfare.  Suffice 
it  tOiSay  that,  when  the  game  is  trembling  in  the 
balance,  and  Belinda,  pale  as  death,  sees  herself 
"in  the  jaws  of  ruin  and  codille,"  her  king  of  hearts 
takes  that  "  one  nice  trick  "  upon  which  the  general 
fate  depends,  and  wins  her  the  game.  Overjoyed 
at  her  victory — 

The  nymph  exulting  fills  with  shouts  the  sky ; 
The  walls,  the  woods,  and  long  canals  reply. 

Belinda's  triumph  was  destined  to  be  brief. 
Tea  and  coffee  are  brought  in,  and  while  the 
heroine  unsuspectingly  sips  her  Bohea,  the  fumes 
of  the  coffee  fill  the  baron's  brain  with  "  new 
stratagems  the  radiant  lock  to  gain."  A  faithless 
damsel,  named  Clarissa,  draws  a  pair  of  scissors 
from  her  case,  and  hands  them  to  the  youth. 
Belinda  perceives  nothing,  but  the  sylphs  are  on 
the  alert. 

Swift  to  the  lock  a  thousand  sprites  repair, 

A  thousand  wings  by  turns  blow  back  the  hair, 

And  thrice  they  twitched  the  diamond  in  her  hair. 

But  all  their  efforts  are  in  vain,  and  the  moment 
of  the  baron's  triumph  approaches.  He  spreads 
the  *'  glittering  forfex  "  wide,  and  the  next  instant — 

The  meeting  points  the  sacred  hair  dissever 
From  the  fair  head  for  ever  and  for  ever  ! 
Then  flashed  the  living  lightning  from  her  eyes 
And  screams  of  horror  rend  th'  affrighted  skies. 
Not  louder  shrieks  to  pitying  heav'n  are  cast 
When  husbands  or  when  lap-dogs  breathe  their  last, 
Or  when  rich  china  vessels,  fall'n  from  high. 
In  glittering  dust  and  painted  fragments  lie. 

,At    the   opening  of  Canto   IV.  we   find    Belinda 


io8  Mr.  Pope 

still  mourning  for  her  lost  curl.  Ariel  has  fled 
weeping,  and  Umbriel,  a  dusky,  melancholy  sprite, 
repairs  to  the  cave  of  Spleen,  and  begs  the  goddess 
to  "  touch  Belinda  with  chagrin."  ^  His  request 
is  granted,  and,  armed  with  a  bag  of  sighs,  sobs, 
passions,  and  the  war  of  tongues,  as  well  as  a  phial 
of  soft  sorrows,  melting  griefs,  and  flowing  tears, 
he  returns  to  Hampton  Court,  where — 

Sunk  in  Thalestris'  arms  the  nymph  he  found, 
Her  eyes  dejected  and  her  hair  unbound. 
Full  o'er  their  heads  the  swelling  bag  he  rent, 
And  all  the  Furies  issued  at  the  vent. 

Thalestris  declaims  bitterly  against  both  the  crime 
and  the  criminal,  then  seeks  out  Sir  Plume  and 
bids  him  go  to  the  baron  and  demand  the  lock. 

Sir  Plume,  of  amber  snuff-box  justly  vain, 

And  the  nice  conduct  of  a  clouded  cane, 

With  earnest  eyes  and  round,  unthinking  face, 

He  first  the  snuff-box  opened,  then  the  case. 

And  thus  broke  out :  "  My  Lord  !  why,  what  the  devil ! 

Zounds  !  damn  the  lock  !  'fore  Gad,  you  must  be  civil. 

Plague  on't !  'tis  past  a  jest — nay,  prithee,  pox  ! 

Give  her  the  hair "  he  spoke,  and  rapped  his  box. 

The  peer  refuses  to  yield  up  his  prize,  and 
Belinda,  drowned  in  tears,  deplores  her  unhappy 
fate,  and  wishes  that,  instead  of  going  to  Hampton 
Court,  she  had  stayed  at  home  and  said  her  prayers. 
.  In  Canto  V.  Belinda  is  still  surrounded  by  a 
syntpathetic  a:uyience,  to  whom  the  grave  Clarissa, 
a   well-meaning  friend,   delivers   a  discourse  on  the 

1  Dennis  objected,  not  altogether  without  reason,  that  Belinda 
was  already  touched  with  chagrin,  and  therefore  there  was  no 
necessity  to  visit  the  cave  of  Spleen. 


From  an  fiuM'avinsj  bj'  C.  Du  Rose  after  a  i  ainlin.s;  ly  L.  Du  Cutniicr 
"TIIK   RAPK   OF   THE    LOCK/'   CANTO    III. 
I'lom  the  stH'oiul  i ditioii  ol  the  poem,  1714. 


**The  Rape  of  the  Lock''  109 

undue  homage  paid  to  mere  beauty,  and  exalts 
the  unfashionable  virtues  of  good  sense  and  good 
humour/  The  address  is  ill  received  by  the  company, 
and  the  fiery  Thalestris  raises  the  cry  "  To  arms  !  " 
Then  ensues  an  Homeric  combat  between  the 
beaux  and  belles,  while  fans  clap,  silks  rustle,  and 
tough   whale-bones  crack  : 

A  beau  and  witling  perished  in  the  throng, 
One  died  in  metaphor  and  one  in  song.^ 

Belinda  tries  conclusions  with  the  Baron,  and 
overcomes  him  with  a  pinch  of  snufF.  While  he 
is  temporarily  incapacitated  by  a  fit  of  sneezing, 
she  draws  her  deadly  bodkin  from  her  side.  He 
pleads  for  his  life,  but  she  will  only  grant  it  on 
condition  that  he  restores  the  lock.     Alas — 

The  lock  obtained  with  guilt,  but  kept  with  pain 
In  every  place  is  sought,  and  sought  in  vain. 

1  This    is   a   brilliant   parody   of   the    speech    of    Sarpedon   to 
Glaucus  in  Homer.     A  few  lines  may  be  quoted  : 

Oh  !  if  to  dance  all  night  and  dress  all  day 
Charmed  the  small-pox,  or  chased  old  age  away, 
Who  would  not  scorn  what  housewives'  cares  produce, 
Or  who  would  learn  one  earthly  thing  of  use  ? 
To  patch,  nay  ogle,  might  become  a  saint, 
Nor  could  it,  sure,  be  such  a  sin  to  paint. 
But  since,  alas  !  frail  beauty  must  decay, 
Curled,  or  uncurled,  since  locks  will  turn  to  grey  ; 
Since  painted,  or  not  painted,  all  shall  fade, 
And  she  who  scorns  a  man  must  die  a  maid  ; 
What  then  remains  but  well  our  power  to  use, 
And  keep  good  humour  still,  whate'er  we  lose  ? 
'  Dennis    alludes   to    this   couplet   as    a   miserable    pleasantry, 
since  here  is   a  real  combat   and  a  metaphorical   dying.     Pope 
evidently  had  in  his  mind  a  line    in    Buckingham's  "  Essay   on 
Poetry  "  : 

They  sigh  in  simile  and  die  in  rhyme. 


no  Mn  Pope 

The  Muse  alone  had  followed  its  upward  flight, 
and  saw  that,  like — 

A  sudden  star,  it  shot  through  liquid  air, 
And  drew  behind  a  radiant  trail  of  hair. 
Not  Berenice's  locks  first  rose  so  bright, 
The  heav'ns  bespangling  with  dishevelled  light. 

In  times  to  come  happy  lovers  would  mistake 
the  starry  lock  for  Venus,  and,  viewing  it,  that 
egregious  wizard,  Partridge,  would  foredoom — 

The  fate  of  Louis  and  the  fall  of  Rome. 

Belinda  is  adjured  to  cease  mourning  for  the 
ravished  curl,  since,  on  the  word  of  the  poet — 

Not  all  the  tresses  that  fair  head  can  boast, 
Shall  draw  such  envy  as  the  lock  you  lost. 
For,  after  all  the  murders  of  your  eye, 
When,  after  millions  slain,  yourself  shall  die  ; 
When  those  fair  suns  shall  set,  as  set  they  must, 
And  all  those  tresses  shall  be  laid  in  dust, 
This  lock  the  Muse  shall  consecrate  to  fame. 
And  midst  the  stars  inscribe  BeUnda's  name. 

In  "  The  Rape  of  the  Lock  "  Pope  had  "  found 
himself"  The  manner  of  the  poem  was  no  doubt 
suggested  by  Tassoni's  "  Rape  of  the  Bucket,"  ^ 
and  Boileau's  "  Lutrin,"  ^  while  some  hints  were 
taken   from  Garth's  "  Dispensary,"  ^   but  Pope  had 

1  Tassoni  pretends  that  the  war  between  Modena  and  Bologna 
in  the  thirteenth  century  was  caused  by  the  carrying  off  of  a 
bucket.     His  poem  was  published  in  1622. 

^  "  Le  Lutrin "  deals  with  a  squabble  between  the  treasurer 
and  precentor  of  La  Sainte  Chapelle  about  the  position  of  a 
reading-desk.     The  complete  version  was  published  in   1683. 

'  Garth's  "Dispensary,"  published  in  1699,  is  written  round  a 
quarrel  between  the  College  of  Physicians  and  the  Company 
of  Apothecaries  over  the  gratuitous  dispensation  of  drugs  to 
the  poor. 


** The  Rape  of  the  Lock ''  in 

far  surpassed  his  models.  The  piece  is  conceived 
in  the  true  spirit  of  high  comedy,  airy,  pointed,  and 
elegant,  while  the  heroic  style  is  consistently  pre- 
served throughout.  It  is  the  onlv  good-humoured 
satire  that  the  poet  has  given  us,  and  none  other 
is  distinguished  by  such  light-hearted  gaiety  and 
charm.  He  moves  among  his  characters  with  the 
polished  ease  of  one  who  has  "  learnt  to  dance." 
The  truth  is,  that  he  had  lighted  upon  a  subject 
that  gave  fullest  scope  to  the  tinest  qualities  of  his 
mina,  while  it  couid  not  be  seriously  injured  by 
the  weaker  points  of  his  character.  "  He  was 
essentially  the  poet  of  personality  and  polished  life. 
He  judged  of  beauty  by  fashion,  and  sought  for 
truth  in  the  opinions  of  the  world."  The  artifici- 
ality of  his  youthful  style,  which  ruined  his  studies 
of  nature,  was  no  flaw  in  a  picture  of  fashionable 
life.  His  description  of  a  lady's  dressing-table  is 
as  superior  to  his  description  of  a  country-scene 
as  his  witty  parodies  of  the  classics  are  superior 
to  his  serious  imitations  in  the  "  Pastorals." 

The  critics,  old  and  new,  have  been  almost  unani- 
mous in  showering  praises  on  "  The  Rape  of  the 
Lock."  Hazlitt  declares  that  the  poem  is  the  "  most 
exquisite  specimen  of  filigree  work  ever  invented.  It 
is  made  of  gauze  and  silver  spangles.  The  most 
glittering  appearance  is  given  to  everything — to 
paste,  pomatum,  billets-doux^  and  patches.  The  little 
is  made  great,  the  great  little.  You  hardly  know 
whether  to  laugh  or  weep.  It  is  the  triumph  of 
insignificance,  the  apotheosis  of  foppery  and  folly."  ^ 

^  De    Quincey    describes    the    Rape   as    "  the   most   exquisite 
monument    of    playful    fancy    that    universal    literature    offers." 


112  Mr.  Pope 

It  would  be  idle  to  deny  that  there  are  faults  in 
the  poem,  but — to  paraphrase  Pope  himself  : 

If  to  his  share  some  natural  errors  fall, 
Look  on  his  style,  and  you'll  forget  them  all. 

One  critic,  however,  was  not  prepared  to  overlook 
any  errors  in  one  whom  he  regarded  as  a  bitter 
enemy.  This,  of  course,  was  Dennis,  who  wrote  a 
series  of  "  Letters  on  the  Rape  of  the  Lock,"  but 
did  not  publish  them  till  after  the  appearance  of 
"The  Dunciad  "  in  1728.  He  describes  the  poem 
as  "  one  of  the  last  imitations  of  the  finicking  bard, 
and  one  of  the  most  impertinent.  The  faults  begin 
in  the  title-page,  for  the  poem  is  called  Heroi-comical, 
when  there  is  not  so  much  as  a  jest  in  the  whole 
book.  Of  all  blockheads  he  is  the  most  emphatically 
dull  who,  to  an  insipid,  tedious  tale,  prefixes  this 
impertinent  title."  Comparing  the  Rape  with  "  Le 
Lutrin,"  Dennis  complains  that  the  former  is  an  empty 
trifle  and  has  neither  fable  nor  moral,  while  the  latter 
has  both,  and  is  serious  under  the  trifling.  Belinda, 
again,  is  a  chimera,  not  a  character,  and  though  Pope 
describes  her  as  perfectly  beautiful,  well-bred,  modest 
and  virtuous,  yet  he  makes  her  owe  the  greater  part 
of  her  beauty  to  her  toilette,  and  shows  her  behaving 
like  a  termagant,  and  talking  like  an  "  errant 
suburban." 

It  must  be  confessed  that  Pope,  true  to  his  theory 
that  "most  women  have  no  character  at  all,"  makes 
Belinda  a  fashion-plate  rather  than  a  living  creature. 

Johnson  thought  it  the  most  ingenious  and  the  most  delightful  of 
all  Pope's  compositions.  Warton  considered  it  the  best  satire 
extant,  and  far  superior,  in  point  of  delicacy  and  finely-turned 
raillery,  to  anything  that  the  French  had  produced. 


'*  The  Rape  of  the  Lock  *'  113 

We  are  told  of  her  charm,  but  she  gives  no  proof 
of  it.  Her  friends,  both  men  and  women,  are 
equally  devoid  of  "  character,"  and  seem  less  real 
than  the  sylphs  that  surround  them.  But  the  poet 
may  have  intended  to  show  the  unreality  and  empti- 
ness, the  absence  of  all  true  humanity  in  the 
fashionable  world  that  he  haunted,  envied,  and 
affected  to  despise.  Although  Pope  invariably  ad- 
dresses his  female  friends  in  a  style  of  exaggerated 
deference  and  over-strained  flattery,  he  di^^plays 
throughout  his  works  a  spiteful  contempt  for  women 
which  probably  had  its  source  in  wounded  vanity. 
He  speaks  ot  himself  in  one  letter  at  this  time  as 
"  the  little  Alexander  whom  the  women  laugh  at," 
and  assuredly  Fate  has  no  fury  like  a  "  poet  scorned." 
Sex-jealousy,  moreover,  is  always  more  strongly  de- 
veloped in  the  man  of  weak  physique.  The  cripple, 
the  deformed,  and  the  chronic  invalid  are  urged  by 
the  instinct  of  self-preservation  to  fight  tooth  and 
nail  against  the  abolition  of  masculine  monopolies, 
while  they  think  to  prop  up  their  claims  to  virility 
by  loudly  proclaiming  the  inferiority  of  women. 
''  The  princeliest  must  have  won  his  title  to  the  place  » 
before  he  can  yield  other  than  complimentary  station 
to  a  woman  without  violation  of  his  dignity."  Pope 
was  not  princely  in  this  sense,  and  he  never  dared 
yield  other  than  complimentary  station  to  a  woman. 
Pope  had  communicated  to  Addison  his  design 
of  adding  the  new  "machinery  "  ^  to  "The  Rape  of 
the  Lock,"   but  Addison  had  advised  him  to  leave 

^  Pope  told  Spence  that  "  the  making  the  machinery,  and  what 
was  published  before,  hit  so  well  together  is,  I  think,  one  of  the 
greatest  proofs  of  judgment  of  anything  I  ever  did." 

VOL.    I  .  8 


114  Mr.  Pope 

his  poem  alone,  as  it  was  a  delicious  little  thing  as  it 
stood,  and  merum  sal.  After  the  unequivocal  success 
of  the  new  version — three  thousand  copies  were 
sold  in  the  first  few  weeks — Pope  chose  to  think 
that  Addison  had  given  his  advice  in  bad  faith,  and 
professed  to  be  deeply  shocked  at  the  duplicity  of 
his  friend,  to  whose  true  character  his  eyes  were 
now  opened.  Considering  that  he  himself  had  made 
the  same  kind  of  mistake  when  he  advised  Addison 
not  to  bring  Cato  on  the  stage,  this  point  of  view 
seemed  unreasonable,  to  say  the  least  of  it.  Addison 
probably  thought  that  the  suggested  machinery  would 
bring  in  the  tiresome  train  of  gods  and  goddesses 
who  had  done  duty  as  the  "  supernatural  agency  "  in 
the  "Pastorals"  and  "Windsor  Forest."  Macaulay 
remarks  that  the  only  instance  in  which  a  work  of 
imagination  has  not  been  injured  by  being  recast  is 
furnished  by  "  The  Rape  of  the  Lock."  Tasso  re- 
cast his  "  Jerusalem,"  Akenside  recast  his  "  Pleasures 
of  Imagination,"  and  Pope  himself  recast  "  The 
Dunciad  "  ;  but  all  these  attempts  were  failures. 

Pope's  personal  friends  were  unanimous  in  their 
appreciation  of  the  amended  poem.  Old  Sir  William 
Trumbull,  who  regarded  himself  as  the  young  man's 
literary  godfather,  wrote  his  warm  congratulations, 
together  with  a  solemn  warning  against  the  perils 
of  town  life. 

"  You  have  given  me,"  he  says,  "  the  truest 
satisfaction  imaginable,  not  only  making  good  the 
just  opinion  I  have  ever  had  of  your  reach  of 
thought  and  my  idea  of  your  comprehensive  genius, 
but  likewise  in  that  pleasure  I  take,  as  an  English- 
man, to  see  the  French,  even  Boileau  himself  in  his 


**  The  Rape  of  the  Lock  '*  115 

Lutrin,  outdone  in  your  poem.  ...  I  now  come 
to  what  is  of  vast  moment,  I  mean  the  preservation 
of  your  health,  and  beg  you  earnestly  to  get  out 
of  all  tavern  company,  and  fly  away  tanquam  ex 
incendio.  What  a  misery  is  it  for  you  to  be 
destroyed  by  the  foolish  kindness  (it  is  all  one, 
whether  real  or  pretended)  of  those  who  are  able 
to  bear  the  poison  of  bad  wine  and  to  engage  you 
in  so  unequal  a  combat  !  " 

Not  less  enthusiastic  was  the  learned  Berkeley, 
who  at  this  time  was  chaplain  to  Lord  Peterborough, 
a  post  he  had  obtained  through  the  favour  of 
Swift. ^  Writing  on  May  i  from  Leghorn,  he  says 
he  has  accidentally  met  with  "  The  Rape  of  the 
Lock,"  and  adds  :  "  Style,  painting,  judgment,  spirit, 
I  had  already  admired  in  other  of  your  writings  ; 
but  in  this  I  am  charmed  with  the  magic  of  your 
invention,  with  all  those  images,  allusions,  and 
inexplicable  beauties  which  you  raise  so  surprisingly 
but  at  the  same  time  so  naturally  out  of  a  trifle." 
He  has  heard  Pope  mention  some  half-formed 
design  of  coming  to  Italy,  and  exclaims  :  "  What 
might  we  not  expect  from  a  Muse  that  sings  so 
well  in  the  black  climate  of  England,  if  she  felt 
the  same  warm  sun  and  breathed  the  same  air  with 
Virgil  and  Horace  }  " 

It  was  the  fashion  then  for  poets  to  allude  to 
their  most  ambitious  works  as  mere  trifles,  dashed 
oflF  at  a  moment  of  leisure,  and  Pope  was  nothing 

*  Dr.  George  Berkeley  (1685-1753).  Berkeley  was  made  Dean 
of  Derry  in  1724,  and  Bishop  of  Cloyne  in  1734.  It  was  in  1725 
that  he  made  his  famous  attempt  to  found  a  missionary  training 
college  in  the  Bermudas. 


ii6  Mr.  Pope 

if  not  fashionable.  He  had  given  his  acquaintances 
to  understand,  as  we  have  seen,  that  his  master- 
piece had  only  been  written  to  please  a  friend,  and 
with  no  idea  of  publication.  Now  that  he  had 
remodelled  it  he  was  willing  to  admit  that  it  was 
not  a  bad  little  piece  of  its  frivolous  kind.  Among 
his  few  women  correspondents  at  this  time  was  a 
certain  Miss  Betty  Marriot,  who  lived  with  her 
mother  at  the  village  of  Stuston,  in  Suffolk.  Miss 
Betty,  being  young  and  a  belle,  sighed  for  the  de- 
lights of  London,  for  balls,  operas,  and  masquerades. 
On  one  of  her  visits  to  town  she  had  met  the  poet, 
and  a  mild  flirtation  had  sprung  up  between  the  pair. 
Pope  presented  her  with  a  copy  of  "  The  Rape  of 
the  Lock,"  and  in  the  accompanying  letter  explained 
jtjiat  he  was  sending  her  a  whimsical  piece  of  work, 
/  "  which  is  at  once  the  most  a  satire  and  the  most 
inoffensive  of  anything  of  mine.  People  who  would 
rather  it  were  let  alone  laugh  at  it,  and  seem 
heartily  merry,  at  the  same  time  that  they  are 
uneasy.  'Tis  a  sort  of  writing  very  like  tickling. 
I  am  so  vain  as  to  fancy  it  a  pretty  complete 
picture  of  the  life  of  our  modern  ladies  in  this  idle 
town,  from  which  you  are  so  happily,  so  prudently, 
so  philosophically  retired." 


CHAPTER    XII 

1714 

Work   on    the   ^^  Iliad ''—The    death    of 
Queen   Anne 

EXCEPT  for  a  brief  visit  to  London  in  March, 
Pope  seems  to  have  spent  the  first  half  of 
this  year — 17 14 — at  Binfield  in  close  company  with 
Homer.  Subscriptions  were  coming  in  briskly  for 
the  first  volume  of  the  "  Iliad,"  and  the  poet  found 
subscribing,  or,  more  accurately,  receiving  subscrip- 
tions, a  much  more  agreeable  occupation  than 
writing.  "  There  is  a  sort  of  little  epigrams  I  more 
especially  delight  in,"  he  says,  "  after  the  manner 
of  rondeaux,  which  begin  and  end  all  in  the  same 
words,  viz.  '  Received '  and  '  A.  Pope.'  These 
epigrams  end  smartly,  and  are  each  of  them  tagged 
with  two  guineas."  ^ 

The  Greek  fortifications  he  finds,  at  a  nearer 
approach,  less  formidable  than  he  had  feared.  There 
were,  indeed,  the  critics  and  commentators  who  lay 
entrenched  in  ditches,  and  who  would  frighten  many 
people  by  their  numbers  and  bulk.  But  he  has  dis- 
covered a  more  speedy  and  gallant  method  of  coming 

^  It  has  been  well  said  that  Pope  seems  to  have  received 
a  national  commission  to  translate  the  "  Iliad,"  as  being  by 
general  consent  the  best  poet  of  his  time. 

117 


ii8  Mr,  Pope 

at  the  main  works  than  by  mining  underground,  and 
that  was  by  using  poetical  machines — wings — and 
flying  thither  over  the  heads  of  the  enemy. 

At  this  time  Pope  had  a  valuable  assistant  in 
the  person  of  his  friend  Parnell,  a  fine  scholar,  who 
had  promised  to  provide  the  Introduction  to  the 
"  Iliad,"  and  who  paid  a  long  visit  to  Binfield  in 
the  spring  to  help  with  the  study  of  classical 
commentators.  The  two  friends  wrote  to  Gay  on 
May  4,  and  invited  him  to  stay  in  the  Forest,  where 
his  taste  for  books,  friendship,  and  ease  would 
equally  be  indulged.  "  You  might  here  converse 
with  the  old  Greeks,"  says  Pope,  "  be  initiated  into 
all  their  customs,  and  learn  their  prayers  by  heart, 
as  we  have  done.  The  doctor  last  Sunday,  intending 
to  say  '  Our  Father,'  was  got  half-way  in  Chryses' 
prayer  to  Apollo.  ...  I  have  contracted  a 
severity  of  aspect  from  deep  meditation  on  high 
subjects,  equal  to  the  formidable  front  of  black- 
browed  Jupiter,  and  become  an  awful  nod  as  well, 
when  I  assent  to  some  grave  and  weighty  proposition 
of  the  doctor,  or  enforce  a  criticism  of  my  own." 

Parnell  stayed  in  the  Forest  through  May,  and  no 
sooner  had  he  left  than  the  unhappy  translator  found 
himself  in  a  sea  of  (critical)  troubles.  "The  minute 
I  lost  you,"  he  complains,  "  Eustathius,  with  nine 
hundred  pages,  and  nine  thousand  contractions  of 
the  Greek  character,  arose  to  my  view  !  Spondamus, 
with  all  his  auxiliaries,  in  number  a  thousand  pages 
(value  three  shillings),  and  Dacier's  three  volumes, 
Barnes's  two,  Valterie's  three,  Cuperus,  half  in  Greek, 
Leo  Allatius,  three  parts  in  Greek,  Scaliger,  Macro- 
bius,  and  (worse  than  all)  Aulus  Gellius  !      I  cursed 


Work  on  the  ''  Iliad  '*  119 

them  all  religiously,  damned  my  best  friends  among 
the  rest,  and  even  blasphemed  Homer  himself." 

Parnell,  it  appears,  was  able  not  only  to  grapple 
with  Eustathius  and  all  his  works,  but  even  to 
perform  miracles  in  the  family  of  Pope.  "  You 
have  made  old  people  fond  of  a  young,  gay  person, 
and  inveterate  Papists  of  a  clergyman  of  the  Church 
of  England  ;  even  nurse  herself  is  in  danger  of 
being  in  love  in  her  old  age,  and  (for  all  I  know) 
would  even  marry  Dennis  ^  for  your  sake,  because 
he  is  your  man,  and  loves  his  master."    

Pope  was  seldom  without  a  quarrel,  serious  or 
trivial,  on  his  hands,  and  he  was  again  at  daggers 
drawn  with  Philips,  who  had  never  forgiven  the 
ridicule  thrown  on  his  "  Pastorals  "  in  The  Guardian. 
Writing  to  CarylP  on  June  8,  Pope  relates   that — 

"  Mr,  Philips  did  express  himself  with  much 
indignation  against  me  one  evening  at  Button's 
Coffee-house,  as  I  was  told,  saying  that  I  was  entered 
into  a  cabal  with  Dean  Swift  and  others  to  write 
against  the  Whig  interest,  and  in  particular  to 
undermine  his  own  reputation  and  that  of  his 
friends,  Steele  and  Addison  ;  but  Mr.  Philips  never 
opened  his  lips  to  my  face,  on  this  or  any  other 
occasion,  though  I  was  almost  every  night  in  the 
same  room  with  him,  nor  ever  offered  me  any  inde- 
corum. Mr.  Addison  came  to  me  a  night  or  two 
after  Philips  had  talked  in  this  idle  manner,  and 
assured  me  of  his  disbelief  of  what  had  been  said, 

^  Parnell's  Irish  man-servant. 

*  The  letter  is  addressed  to  "The  Honourable ."    But  this  is 

a  heading  occasionally  used  by  Pope,  in  his  published  Correspon- 
dence, for  letters  to  Caryll. 


I20  Mr»  Pope 

of  the  friendship  we  should  always  maintain,  and 
desired  I  would  say  nothing  further  of  it.  My 
Lord  Halifax  did  me  the  honour  to  stir  in  this 
matter,  by  speaking  to  several  people  to  obviate  a 
false  aspersion,  which  might  have  done  me  no  small 
prejudice  with  one  party.  However,  Philips  did  all 
he  could  secretly  to  continue  the  report  with  the 
Hanover  Club,^  and  kept  in  his  hands  the  subscrip- 
tions paid  for  me  to  him,  as  secretary  to  that  club. 
The  heads  of  it  have  since  given  him  to  understand 
that  they  take  it  ill  ;  but  upon  the  terms  I  ought  to 
be  with  a  man  whom  I  think  a  scoundrel,  I  would 
not  ask  him  for  his  money,  but  commissioned  one  of 
the  players,  his  equals,  to  receive  it." 

Pope  adds  that  it  was  to  this  behaviour  of  Philips 
that  the  world  owed  Gay's  newly  published  "  Shep- 
herd's Week."  Though  originally  intended  as  a 
burlesque  of  Philips's  "  Pastorals,"  the  poem  pleased 
the  public,  who  accepted  it  on  its  own  merits  as  a 
realistic  picture  of  rustic  life.  "  The  Shepherd's 
Week  "  was  dedicated  to  Bolingbroke,  but  the 
"  Rural  Sports,"  published  the  previous  year,  had 
been  dedicated  to  Pope  in  most  flattering  terms,^ 
and  Pope  had  repaid  the  compliment,  in  substantial 

1  The  Hanover  Club  consisted  of  persons  who  desired  to  testify 
their  devotion  to  the  Hanoverian  line  and  the  Protestant  succes- 
sion, in  contradistinction  to  the  Jacobites. 

^  The  poem  opens  with  the  lines  : 

You,  who  the  sweets  of  rural  life  have  known, 
Despise  th'  ungrateful  hurry  of  the  town  ; 
Miflst  Windsor  groves  your  easie  hours  employ, 
And,  undisturbed,  yoursulf  and  Muse  enjoy. 
Soft,  flowing  Thames  his  mazy  course  retains, 
And  in  suspense  admires  thy  charming  strains ; 
The  river-god  and  nymphs  about  thee  throng. 
To  hear  the  Syren  warble  in  thy  song. 


Political  Ferment  121 

fashion,  by  obtaining  for  Gay,  through  Swift's  in- 
fluence, the  secretaryship  to  Lord  Clarendon's 
embassy  to  Hanover.  In  those  days  the  fact  that 
a  man  had  written  some  pleasing  verses  and  was  a 
popular  figure  at  the  clubs  seemed  sufficient  reason 
for  his  appointment  to  an  important  public  position. 
Throughout  his  life,  it  may  be  remarked,  Gay  was 
dealt  good  hands,  but  he  played  them  unskilfully, 
or  it  may  have  been  that  the  cards  "  lay  badly." 
On  this  occasion  the  luck  was  clearly  against  him. 
Lord  Clarendon's  mission  did  not  arrive  at  Hanover 
till  after  the  queen's  death,  and  this  belated  attempt 
of  the  Tories  to  curry  favour  with  their  future 
king  ended  in  discomfiture. 

Pope  at  this  period  stood  resolutely  aloof  from 
public  affairs,  but  he  is  intimately  connected  with 
the  political  life  of  the  time  through  the  quarrels, 
ambitions,  and  disappointments  of  his  distinguished 
friends.  It  became  apparent,  early  in  the  year,  that 
the  queen  had  not  long  to  live,  and  the  last  months 
of  her  unhappy  life  were  embittered  by  the  quarrels 
of  Bolingbroke  and  Oxford.  Swift  was  vainly  trying 
to  keep  the  peace  between  the  pair,  since  in  their 
co-operation  lay  the  one  hope  of  carrying  on  the 
now  discredited  Tory  Government.  The  Whigs 
were  waiting  and  watching,  ready,  when  occasion 
offered,  to  deal  a  blow  at  their  weakened  enemy. 
Steele  had  made  a  shrewd  thrust  in  his  pamphlet, 
"  The  Crisis,"  for  which,  in  March  of  this  year, 
he  was  expelled  from  the  House  of  Commons. 
Writing  to  Caryll  on  March  19,  Pope  gives  the 
news  of  Steele's  misfortune,  and  adds  : 

"  I  am  sorry  I  can  be  of  no  other  opinion  than 


122  Mr.  Pope 

yours  as  to  his  whole  carriage  and  writings  of  late  ; 
but,  certainly,  he  has  not  only  been  punished  by  others, 
but  suffered  much  even  from  his  own  party  in  the 
point  of  character,  nor,  I  believe,  received  any 
amends  in  that  of  interest  as  yet,  whatever  may  be 
his  prospects  for  the  future.  This  gentleman, 
among  a  thousand  others,  is  a  great  instance  of  the 
fate  of  all  who  are  carried  away  by  party  strife  of 
any  side.  I  wish  all  violence  may  succeed  as  ill  ; 
but  am  really  annoyed  that  so  much  of  that  vile 
and  pernicious  quality  should  be  joined  with  so  much 
good  humour  as  Mr.  Steele  has." 

In  April  Swift  had  applied,  through  Bolingbroke, 
for  the  post  of  historiographer  to  the  queen,  and 
had  deeply  resented  his  failure  to  obtain  the  post. 
By  the  end  of  May  he  realised  that  his  efforts  to 
reconcile  the  rival  leaders  were  vain,  and,  without 
announcing  his  intention,  he  suddenly  retired  to  the 
house  of  a  clerical  friend — Mr.  Gery,  at  Upper 
Letcombe,  in  Berkshire — where  he  prepared  one  last 
bombshell  for  the  benefit  of  his  friend,  the  enemy 
— his  pamphlet  entitled,  "  Free  Thoughts  on  the 
present  State  of  Affairs."  Bolingbroke,  with  the  aid 
of  his  ally.  Lady  Masham,  was  plotting  to  wrest 
the  power  from  Oxford's  hands,  and,  Samson-like,  was 
pulling  down  the  edifice  of  Tory  power  by  means  of 
his  unpopular  Schism  Bill.  Steele,  who  had  often 
"  held  the  pen  "  in  the  happier  days  of  the  Scriblerus 
Club  when  party  spirit  ran  less  high,  was  now  the 
open  and  bitter  enemy  of  Swift.  Arbuthnot  alone 
kept  on  his  manly,  straightforward  course,  watching 
by  his  dying  mistress's  bedside,  careless  of  his  own 
interests,  and  hating  no  man. 


Visit  to  Swift  123 

From  a  jocular  letter  addressed  by  Pope  to  Swift 
on  June  18,  it  appears  that  the  dean  had  withheld 
his  address  from  most  of  his  friends,  and  that  many 
rumours  were  afloat  concerning  his  doings  and 
whereabouts.  "  At  Button's  it  is  reported  that  you 
are  gone  to  Hanover,  and  that  Gay  only  goes  on 
an  embassy  to  you."  Some  people  apprehended 
a  dangerous  state  treatise,  while  others  were  ready 
to  accept  the  suggestion  that  the  dean  was  gone  to 
meet  some  Jesuits  from  the  Court  of  Rome  to 
arrange  for  the  coming  of  the  Pretender.  "  Dr. 
Arbuthnot  is  singular  in  his  opinion,  and  imagines 
your  only  design  is  to  attend,  at  full  leisure,  to  the 
life  and  adventures  of  Scriblerus.  This,  indeed, 
must  be  granted  of  greater  importance  than  all  the 
rest,  and  I  wish  I  could  promise  so  well  of  you. 
The  top  of  my  own  ambition  is  to  contribute  to 
that  great  work,  and  I  shall  translate  Homer  by 
the  bye." 

A  fortnight  later  Pope  and  Parnell  made  a 
pilgrimage  to  Swift's  retreat,  which  was  only  thirty 
miles  from  Binfield,  and  passed  some  days  with  the 
dean,  who  was  living  the  "  simple  life,"  and  paying 
his  reverend  host  a  guinea  a  week  for  his  board. 
Pope  wrote  an  amusing  account  of  the  visit  to 
Arbuthnot  in  the  form  of  a  news-letter  : 


"  From  Letcombe,  near  Wantage, 
July  4- 

"  This    day    the    envoys   deputed  to  Dean   Swift 

arrived     here    during    the    time    of  divine    service. 

They  were  received  at  the  back-door,  and,   having 

paid    the    usual    compliments    on    their    part,    and 


124  Mr.  Pope 

received  the  usual  chidings  on  that  of  the  dean, 
were  introduced  to  his  landlady  and  entertained 
with  a  pint  of  the  Lord  Bolingbroke's  Florence. 
The  health  of  that  great  minister  was  drunk  in 
that  pint,  together  with  the  Lord  Treasurer's,  whose 
wine  we  also  wished  for  ;  after  which  were  com- 
memorated Dr.  Arbuthnot  and  Mr.  Lewis  in  a 
sort  of  cider,  plentiful  in  these  parts,  and  not  alto- 
gether unknown  in  the  taverns  of  London.  There 
was  likewise  a  sideboard  of  coffee,  which  the  dean 
roasted  with  his  own  hands,  his  landlady  attending 
all  the  while  that  office  was  performing.  He  talked 
of  politics  over  coffee  with  the  air  and  style  of  an 
old  statesman,  who  had  known  something  formerly, 
but  was  shamefully  ignorant  of  the  last  three  weeks. 
When  we  mentioned  the  welfare  of  England  he 
laughed  at  us,  and  said  Muscovy  would  become  a 
flourishing  empire  very  shortly.  He  seems  to  have 
wrong  notions  of  the  British  Court,  but  gave  us 
a  hint  as  if  he  had  a  correspondence  with  the  King 
of  Sweden." 

Swift  himself  gives  a  much  less  cheerful  account 
of  his  surroundings  in  a  letter  to  "  Vanessa." 
Though  he  likes  his  host  very  well,  Mr.  Gery  is 
"such  a  melancholy,  thoughtful  man,  partly  from 
nature  and  partly  from  solitude,  that  I  shall  soon  catch 
the  spleen  from  him.  His  wife  has  been  this  month 
twenty  miles  off  at  her  father's,  and  will  not  return 
these  ten  days,  and  perhaps  the  house  will  be  worse 
when  she  comes.  I  read  all  day  or  walk,  and  do  not 
speak  so  many  words  as  I  have  now  writ  in  three 
days." 


The  Death  of  Queen  Anne  125 

Oxford  narrowly  escaped  a  vote  of  censure  at  the 
beginning  of  July,  but  he  shuffled  cheerfully  on, 
prevaricating  over  every  dangerous  question,  and 
postponing  all  tiresome  business  to  the  morrow. 
Altogether,  the  "  Dragon  "  seems  to  have  been  the 
person  least  affected  by  the  rickety  state  of  his 
government,  while  such  worries  as  even  he  could 
not  escape  might  be  drowned  in  a  bottle  of  good 
wine.  Arbuthnot,  writing  to  Swift  only  a  few 
weeks  before  the  queen's  death,  says  :  "  The 
Dragon  was  with  us  on  Saturday  night  last,  having 
sent  us  really  a  most  excellent  copy  of  verses.  I 
really  believe  when  he  lays  down  he  will  prove  a 
very  good  poet.  I  remember  the  first  part  of  his 
verses  was  complaining  of  his  ill-usage,  and  at  last 
he  concludes  : 

He  that  cares  not  to  rule  will  be  sure  to  obey 

When  summoned  by  Arbuthnot,  Pope,  Parnell,  and  Gay. 

But  the  queen's  patience  came  to  an  end  at  last, 
or  it  may  be  that  in  her  last  hours  she  was  guided 
entirely  by  Lady  Masham,  who  had  the  impatient 
Bolingbroke  at  her  elbow.  On  July  27  Oxford 
was  dismissed,  the  reasons  given  by  the  queen  for 
parting  with  him  being  :  "  That  he  neglected  all 
business  ;  that  he  was  seldom  to  be  understood  ; 
that,  when  he  did  explain  himself,  she  could  not 
depend  on  the  truth  of  what  he  said  ;  that  he  never 
came  to  her  at  the  time  she  appointed  ;  that  he 
often  came  drunk  ;  that  he  behaved  himself  to- 
wards her  with  bad  manners,  indecency,  and  dis- 
respect." 

On  August   I,  just  as  Bolingbroke  had  stretched 


126  Mr.  Pope 

out  his  hand  to  grasp  the  reins  of  power,  the 
queen's  long  sufferings  were  ended.  With  her 
dying  hand  she  gave  the  staff  to  the  Duke  of 
Shrewsbury,  and  the  reign  of  the  Tories  was  over. 
"  The  Earl  of  Oxford  was  removed  on  Tuesday," 
wrote  Bolingbroke  to  Swift,  "  and  the  queen  died 
on  Sunday.  What  a  world  is  this  !  and  how  does 
Fortune  banter  us  !  " 

In  a  very  different  strain  was  the  letter  sent  by 
Arbuthnot  to  Letcombe  : 

"  My  dear  mistress's  days  were  numbered,  even  In 
my  imagination,  and  could  not  exceed  such  certain 
limits  ;  but  of  that  number  a  great  deal  was  cut  off 
by  the  last  troublesome  scene  of  contention  among 
her  servants.  I  believe  sleep  was  never  more 
welcome  to  a  weary  traveller  than  death  was  to 
her.  .  .  .  My  case  is  not  half  so  deplorable  as  poor 
Lady  Masham's  and  several  of  the  queen's  servants, 
some  of  whom  have  no  chance  for  their  bread  but 
the   generosity  of  his   present   majesty." 

During  these  exciting,  and — to  Papists — perilous 
times,  Pope  had  deemed  it  prudent  to  stay  quietly 
at  Binfield,  and  translate  as  much  of  Homer  as 
perpetual  headaches  would  permit,  "  The  same 
thing,"  he  remarks,  "  that  makes  old  men  willing 
to  leave  this  world,  makes  me  willing  to  leave 
poetry — long  habit  and  weariness  of  the  same  track. 
Homer  will  work  a  cure  upon  me.  Fifteen 
thousand  verses  are  equivalent  to  fourscore  years, 
to  make  me  old  in  rhyme." 

It  was  not  until  after  the  death  of  the  queen 
that  he  was  tempted  to  take  a  trip  to  London, 
"  moved  by  the  common  curiosity  of  mankind,  who 


The  Death  of  Queen  Anne  127 

leave  their  business  to  be  looking  on  other  men's."  ^ 
At  the  same  time  he  professes  to  be  raised  far  above 
all  party  feeling  by  his  philosophy.  His  one  hope, 
in  this  new  turn  of  affairs,  is  that  it  may  put  an 
end  to  the  divisions  of  Whig  and  Tory,  and  that 
those  parties  may  love  each  other  as  well  as  he  loves 
them  both.  The  greatest  fear  he  has,  as  a  poor 
Papist,  is  the  loss  of  his  horse.  Still,  if  they  take 
his  horse  ^  away,  he  can  walk  ;  if  they  take  his 
house  away,  he  can  go  into  lodgings  ;  and  if  they 
take  his  money  away,  he  can  write  for  his  bread." 
In  short,  no  one  was  ever  so  meek,  so  patient, 
or  so  long-suffering  as  Mr.  Pope — until  he  was 
attacked. 

^  Lord  Bathurst  used  to  say  that  Pope  always  bobbed  up  in 
town  when  anything  exciting  was  going  forward,  Uke  a  porpoise 
in  a  storm. 

-  It  was  illegal  for  a  Roman  Catholic  to  keep  a  horse  above  the 
value  of  five  pounds,  but  this  law  had  never  been  stringently  en- 
forced. Stories  were  current,  however,  of  gentlemen  who,  having 
a  grudge  against  their  Catholic  neighbours,  claimed  their  horses 
in  the  hunting  field,  and  refused  to  pay  more  than  five  pounds, 
even  for  a  valuable  animal.  It  was  also  illegal  for  a  Catholic  to 
own  land,  or  keep  a  school ;  but  these  laws  were  not  observed. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

1714 

Relations  with  Addison — Correspondence  with 
the  Blounts— Visit  to  Bath—''  Epistle  to  a 
Young  Lady  on  Leaving  Town  " 

THE  death  of  the  Queen  was  followed  by  the 
break-up  of  the  pleasant  literary  society  which 
even  party  spirit  had  not  been  able  to  spoil,  and 
for  the  time  being  Pope's  friends  were  scattered. 
Bolingbroke,  the  optimistic,  thought  that  all  was  not 
yet  lost,  and  that  as  prosperity  divided,  so  mis- 
fortune might  to  some  degree  unite  the  party.  But 
his  friends  and  colleagues  had  no  such  faith.  Oxford 
retired  into  the  country,  Swift  returned  to  Ireland, 
Gay  was  still  with  his  abortive  embassy  at  Hanover, 
Arbuthnot,  his  occupation  with  his  royal  patient 
being  gone,  exchanged  St.  James's  for  modest  lodg- 
ings in  Dover  Street,  where,  he  wrote,  he  would 
be  glad  to  see  Dr.  Parnell,  Mr.  Pope,  and  his 
old  friends,  to  whom  he  could  still  aflFord  a  half-pint 
of  claret.  "  I  have  seen,"  he  adds,  "  a  letter  from 
Dr.  Swift  :  he  keeps  up  his  noble  spirit,  and,  though 
like  a  man  knocked  down,  you  may  behold  him 
still  with  a  stern  countenance,  and  aiming  a  blow 
at  his  adversaries." 

128 


Relations  with  Addison  129 

George  I.  was  in  no  hurry  to  try  on  his  English 
crown,  being  shrewd  enough  to  suspect  that  it 
might  prove  a  misfit.  He  lingered  at  Hanover, 
leaving  his  new  country  to  be  governed  by  the 
Lords  Justices,  and  keeping  his  subjects  in  a  cruel 
state  of  suspense.  There  was  a  general  belief 
that  he  would  choose  his  advisers  from  among  the 
moderate  men  of  both  parties,  and  it  was  felt  that 
there  was  hope  for  all  save  the  Jacobites.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  could  not  be  forgotten  that  there  were 
two  kings  of  Brentford,  and  the  king  by  right 
divine  might  land  before  his  legally  proclaimed 
cousin.  Leading  statesmen,  who  were  not  troubled 
by  scruples,  sat  on  the  fence,  and  negotiated  openly 
with  Hanover  and  secretly  with  St.  Germains. 
There  were  hot-beds  of  Jacobitism  in  the  North 
and  the  West,  while  both  the  universities  were  dis- 
affected. Expresses  were  racing  up  and  down  be- 
tween London  and  Scotland,  politicians  were  hurry- 
ing to  their  constituencies  in  view  of  the  approaching 
elections,  and  the  whole  nation  was  standing  treat 
or  being  treated. 

To  judge  from  his  correspondence,  Pope  was 
much  more  interested  in  his  private  affairs  at  this 
time  than  in  the  public  ferment.  His  letters  are 
chiefly  concerned  with  his  health,  his  work,  his  rela- 
tions with  Addison,  and  his  flirtations  with  the  Miss 
Blounts.  The  question  "  Under  which  king  ?  " 
must  have  possessed  the  keenest  interest  for  the 
family  at  Binfield  and  for  their  fellow-Catholics,  but 
no  prudent  Papist  dared  to  discuss  the  subject,  and 
even  the  post  office  was  not  to  be  trusted.  In 
August  Pope  was  corresponding  with  his  friend  and 

VOL.    I  9 


130  Mr.  Pope 

master,  Jervas,  on  the  innocuous  topic  of  a  head  of 
Homer  which  the  artist  was  to  execute  for  the  first 
volume  of  the  "  Iliad."  Jervas,  anxious  to  do  his 
pupil  a  good  turn,  had  been  putting  in  a  word  for 
him  with  Addison,  who,  as  Secretary  to  the  Lords 
Justices,  had  once  again  become  a  person  of  influence 
and  importance  in  the  political  world.  On  August 
20  Jervas  writes  that  he  wishes  Pope  could  have 
hidden  his  little  person  behind  some  wainscot  or 
half-length  picture,  and  overheard  a  conversation 
that  he — Jervas — had  held  with  Addison. 

"  He  assured  me,"  says  the  painter,  "  that  he 
would  make  use  not  only  of  his  interest,  but  of  his 
art  to  do  you  some  service  ;  he  did  not  mean  his  art 
of  poetry,  but  his  art  at  Court  ;  and  he  is  sensible 
that  nothing  can  have  a  better  air  for  himself  than 
moving  in  your  favour,  especially  since  insinuations 
were  spread  that  he  did  not  care  you  should  prosper 
too  much  as  a  poet.  He  protests  that  it  shall  not 
be  his  fault  if  there  is  not  the  best  intelligence  in  the 
world,  and  the  most  hearty  friendship,  etc.  He 
owns  he  was  afraid  Dr.  Swift  might  have  carried  you 
too  far  among  the  enemy  during  the  heat  of  the 
animosity  ;  but  now  all  is  safe,  and  you  are  escaped, 
even  in  his  opinion.  I  promised  in  your  name,  like 
a  good  godfather,  not  that  you  should  renounce  the 
devil  and  all  his  works,  but  that  you  would  be 
delighted  to  find  him  your  friend,  merely  for 
his  own  sake  ;  therefore  prepare  yourself  for  some 
civihties." 

The  letter  might  perhaps  have  been  more  tactfully 
worded.  Pope,  scenting  the  breath  of  patronage, 
replied  in  rather  off-hand  style.      He  acknowledges 


Relations  with  Addison  131 

Jervas's  friendly  endeavours  to  do  him  a  service  with 
Mr.  Addison,  and  continues  : 

"  You  thoroughly  know  my  regard  to  his  character, 
and  my  propensity  to  testify  it  by  all  ways  in  my 
power.  You  as  thoroughly  know  the  scandalous 
meanness  of  that  proceeding  which  was  used  by 
Philips,  to  make  a  man  I  so  highly  value  suspect  my 
disposition  towards  him.^  But  as,  after  all,  Mr. 
Addison  must  be  the  judge  in  what  regards  himself, 
and  has  seemed  to  be  no  very  just  one  to  me,  so  I 
must  own  to  you  I  expect  nothing  but  civility  from 
him,  how  much  soever  I  wish  for  his  friendship.  As 
for  any  offices  of  real  kindness  or  service  which  it  is 
in  his  power  to  do  me,  I  should  be  ashamed  to 
receive  them  from  any  man  who  had  no  better 
opinion  of  my  morals  than  to  think  me  a  party 
man,  nor  of  my  temper  than  to  believe  me  capable 
of  maligning  or  envying  another's  reputation  as  a 
poet." 

As  for  his  engagements  to  Swift,  these  were  no 
more  than  were  required  by  the  actual  services  he 
had  done  to  Pope  in  regard  to  the  Homer  subscrip- 
tions. 

"  I  must  have  leave  to  be  grateful  to  him,  and 
to  any  one  who  serves  me,  let  him  be  never  so 
obnoxious  to  any  party  :  nor  did  the  Tory  party 
ever  put  me  to  the  hardship  of  asking  this  leave, 
which  is  the  greatest  obligation  I  have  to  it  ;  and  I 
expect   no  greater  from   the   Whig    party  than  the 

^  See  Pope's  letter  to  Caryll  (June  8),  in  which  he  says  that 
Philips  had  accused  him  of  having  entered  into  a  cabal  with  Swift 
to  write  against  the  Whigs,  and  undermine  the  reputations  of 
Addison  and  Steele. 


132  Mr.  Pope 

same  liberty.     A   curse  on   the  word   party,  which 
I  have  been  forced  to  use  so  often  in  this  period." 

Pope  was  now  keeping  up  a  fairly  regular  corre- 
spondence with  the  ladies  of  Mapledurham.  In 
these  early  days  Teresa  appears  to  have  been  first 
favourite,  though  the  poet  professed  to  be  equally 
devoted  to  both  sisters.  He  writes  to  both  in 
the  same  style  of  rather  dreadful  "gallantry" — a 
style  that  was  modelled  on  Voiture's.  His  letters 
are  too  often  smirched  by  the  indecency  which,  at 
this  period,  he  believed  to  be  the  soul  of  wit — or  at 
least  of  such  wit  as  was  expected  by  a  man  of  the 
world  when  writing  to  a  pretty  woman.  It  has  often 
been  asserted  that  the  ladies  of  that  day  were 
accustomed  to  loose  language  and  inconvenient  jests, 
which  meant  no  more  than  the  ordinary  chaff  of  our 
own  time.  But  this  assertion  needs  some  qualifica- 
tion. It  is  true  that  people  were  more  plain-spoken 
in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne  than,  for  example,  in 
the  reign  of  Queen  Victoria,  and  the  great  ladies 
were  not  too  much  scandalised  at  un  gros  mot.  But 
the  man  of  breeding,  when  addressing  a  woman 
whom  he  respected,  kept  his  tongue  and  pen  fairly 
clean.  In  the  voluminous  letters  of  Mrs.  Delany 
there  is  not  an  unseemly  phrase,  though  Swift 
was  among  her  correspondents.  Again,  Wortley 
Montagu,  who  was  a  gentleman,  though  a  tiresome 
one,  uses  but  a  single  coarse  word  in  his  corre- 
spondence with  Lady  Mary  Pierrepoint  during  the 
period  of  their  courtship,  and  that  word  is  used  in 
all  seriousness  and  sincerity.  In  the  early  part  of 
Lady  Suffolk's  correspondence  there  is  rather  a  laxer 
tone,   but   the   freest    letters    are    those    written    by 


Correspondence  with  the  Blounts       133 

maids  of  honour,  who,  under  the  first  and  second 
Georges,  frequently  failed  to  live  up  to  their  title. 

That  Pope's  girl-correspondents  were  not  all  so 
tolerant  as  the  Miss  Blounts  may  be  gathered  from 
the  fact  that  an  improper  letter  which  he  sent  to 
Miss  Betty  Marriot  of  Stuston  got  him  into  trouble 
with  his  Suffolk  friends.  He  felt  himself  obliged  to 
write  to  the  Rector  of  Stuston,  his  friend  and  future 
colleague,  WiUiam  Broome,^  to  apologise  for  the 
letter,  and  explain  that  he  was  not  sober  when  he 
wrote  it !  A  duplicate  copy  had  been  sent  to  his 
sisters  at  Mapledurham,  whose  sense  of  propriety 
was  apparently  less  easily  outraged  than  that  of  Miss 
Marriot. 

Martha  Blount  was  taken  ill  with  the  small-pox 
in  the  summer  of  17 14.  In  an  undated  letter  of 
sympathy,  addressed  to  Teresa,  Pope  says  :  "  A 
month  ago  I  should  have  laughed  at  any  one  who 
told  me  my  heart  would  be  perpetually  beating  for 
a  young  lady  that  was  thirty  miles  off  from  me  ;  and 
indeed  I  never  imagined  my  concern  would  be  half 
so  great  for  any  young  woman  whom  I  have  been 
no  more  obliged  to  than  to  so  innocent  an  one  as 
she."  After  wishing  her  long  life  and  continued 
beauty,  he  concludes  :  "  But  whatever  ravages  a 
merciless  distemper  may  commit,  I  dare  promise  her 
boldly,  what  few  (if  any)  of  her  makers  of  visits  and 

1  William  Broome  (1689-1745).  Though  the  son  of  a  farmer, 
he  had  been  educated  at  Eton  and  Cambridge.  He  was  considered 
a  sound  Greek  scholar,  and  was  nicknamed  "  the  Poet "  by  his 
companions.  He  had  translated  the  "  Iliad "  into  prose  with 
Ozell  and  Oldisworth,  and  Pope  was  glad  of  his  assistajice  with 
the  notes  of  Eustathius.  Later,  Broome  was  one  of  Pope's 
assistants  in  translating  the  "  Odyssey." 


134  Mr,  Pope 

compliments  dare  do  :  she  shall  have  one  man  as 
much  her  admirer  as  ever." 

In  September  Pope  paid  his  first  visit  to  Bath, 
with  the  faithful  Parnell  as  his  companion,  and 
thence  he  wrote  on  the  25th  :  "I  am  this  evening 
arrived  extremely  weary,  and  new  to  all  the  wonders 
of  the  place.  I  have  stared  at  the  Bath  and  sneaked 
along  the  walks  with  that  astonished  and  diffident 
air  which  is  natural  to  a  modest  and  ignorant 
foreigner."  There  was  as  yet  scarcely  any  company, 
and  no  lampoons  were  dispersed,  so  that  he  was  able 
to  walk  about  as  innocently  and  as  little  dreaded  as 
"  that  old  lion  of  satire,  Mr.  Wycherley,  who  now 
goes  tame  about  this  town." 

Patty  Blount  was  ordered  to  the  Bath  after  her 
illness  by  Dr.  Radcliffe,  but  refused  to  go,  and  Pope 
wrote  to  Teresa  to  express  his  disappointment  at 
this  decision.  He  is  convinced  that  she  will  never 
look  so  finely  upon  earth  as  she  will  in  the  water. 

"  Ladies,"  he  exclaims,  "  I  have  seen  you  so  often, 
I  know  perfectly  how  you  look  in  black  and  white, 
I  have  experienced  the  utmost  you  can  do  in  any 
colours  ;  but  all  your  movements,  all  your  graceful 
steps,  all  your  attitudes  and  postures,  deserve  not 
half  the  glory  you  might  here  attain  of  a  moving 
and  easy  behaviour  in  buckram  ;  something  betwixt 
swimming  and  walking  ;  free  enough,  yet  more 
modestly  half-naked  than  you  appear  anywhere 
else." 

He  goes  on  to  explain  that  his  violent  passion  for 
Teresa  and  her  sister  is  divided  with  the  most 
wonderful  regularity  in  the  world.  "  Even  from  my 
infancy  I  have  been  in  love  with  one  after  the  other 


Correspondence  with  the  Blounts       135 

of  you,  week  by  week,  and  my  journey  to  Bath  fell 
out  in  the  three  hundred  and  seventy-sixth  week  of 
the  reign  of  my  sovereign  lady  Martha.  At  the 
present  writing,  it  is  the  three  hundred  and  eighty- 
ninth  week  of  the  reign  of  your  most  serene  majesty, 
in  whose  service  I  was  listed  some  weeks  before  I 
beheld  her."  ^ 

In  September  Gay  returned  from  his  mission  to 
Hanover,  where  the  Tory  embassy  had  been  coldly 
received  by  George  I.  Pope  wrote  to  welcome  him, 
whether  he  returned  as  a  triumphant  Whig  or  a 
desponding  Tory,  but  hopes  that  he  is  a  Whig,  since 
"  your  principles  and  mine,  as  brother  poets,  had  ever 
a  bias  to  Uberty."  He  admits,  for  once,  that  the 
late  universal  concern  in  public  affairs  had  thrown 
them  all  into  a  hurry  of  spirits,  and  that  even  he,  the 
philosophical  Mr.  Pope,  was  borne  away  with  the 
current,  and  full  of  expectation  of  the  successor. 
Since  he  can  look  for  nothing  in  the  way  of  worldly 
advancement  for  himself,  he  is  willing  to  bestow  a 
piece  of  practical  advice  on  his  friend  :  "  Write 
something  on  the  king,  prince,  or  princess.  On 
whatever  foot  you  may  be  with  the  Court,  this  can 
do  you  no  harm." 

Poor  Gay  was  only  too  willing  to  write  anything 
on  either  side  that  might  give  him  the  chance  of  a 

1  Carruthers  says  that,  "  on  applying  the  vulgar  touchstone  of 
arithmetic  to  this  poetic  declaration,  we  find  that  the  attachment 
must  have  begun  in  the  year  1707,  when  Teresa  and  Pope  were 
in  their  nineteenth  year,  and  Martha  was  seventeen."  Martha 
seems  to  have  told  Spence  that  she  first  met  Pope  at  her  grand- 
father Englefield's  house  after  the  "  Essay  on  Criticism "  was 
printed,  and  that  she  was  then  a  very  httle  girl.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  she  was  twenty-one, 


136  Mr.  Pope 

"  place."  He  must  have  deeply  regretted  the 
dedication  of  his  "  Shepherd's  Week "  to  Boling- 
broke,  but  he  set  to  work  at  once  to  make  amends 
for  that  unintentional  indiscretion,  and  in  November 
brought  out  "  An  Epistle  to  a  Lady,  occasioned  by 
the  Arrival  of  her  Royal  Highness,  the  Princess  of 
Wales." 

Pope  soon  found  himself  engaged  in  all  the 
amusements  of  the  Bath,  and  seems  to  have  enjoyed 
the  new  experience.  "  My  whole  day,"  he  tells 
Martha  Bount,  "  is  shared  by  the  pump  assemblies, 
the  walks,  the  chocolate-houses,  raffling-shops,  plays, 
medleys,  etc.  We  have  no  ladies  who  have  the 
face,  though  some  of  them  may  have  the  impudence, 
to  expect  a  lampoon.  The  prettiest  is  one  I  had 
the  luck  to  travel  with,  who  has  found  me  out  so 
far  as  to  tell  me  that,  whatever  pretences  I  make 
to  gaiety,  my  heart  is  not  at  Bath." 

He  is  endeavouring,  he  says,  like  other  awkward 
fellows,  to  become  agreeable  by  imitation,  and  some- 
times copies  the  civil  air  of  Gascoin  and  sometimes 
the  impudent  one  of  Nash.^  He  is  even  become  so 
much  of  a  rake  as  to  feel  ashamed  of  being  seen  with 
Dr.  Parnell,  and  asks  people  abroad  "  who  that 
parson  is  ?"  The  place,  of  course,  reeks  with  scandal, 
which  refreshes  and  elevates  his  spirits,  and  he  re- 
marks, oddly  enough,  that  if  women  could  only 
digest  scandal  as  well  as  men,  there  were  two  who 
might  be  the  happiest  creatures  in  the  universe  ! 

Teresa  was  able  to  be  present  at  the  coronation 
of  George  I.  on  October  20,  but  poor  Patty  was 
obliged  to  remain  in  the  country.     To  Teresa  Pope 

^  The  long-celebrated  Master  of  the  Ceremonies — Beau  Nash. 


^* Epistle  to  a  Young  Lady*'  137 

originally  addressed  his  "  Epistle  to  a  Young  Lady 
on  leaving  Town  after  the  Coronation,"  ^  but  after 
his  quarrel  with  the  elder  sister  he  made  it  appear 
that  the  Epistle  was  addressed  to  the  younger.^ 
Here  again  we  have  Pope  in  happy  frame,  less  witty 
than  in  "  The  Rape  of  the  Lock,"  but  not  less  good- 
humoured.  Fair  Zephalinda  is  introduced  as  she 
unwillingly  retires  from  the  gaieties  of  town  to 
"wholesome  country  air." 

She  went  to  plain-work,  and  to  purling  brooks, 

Old-fashioned  halls,  dull  aunts,  and  croaking  rooks  ; 

She  went  from  opera,  park,  assembly,  play. 

To  morning  walks  and  prayers  three  hours  a  day ; 

To  part  her  time  'twixt  reading  and  Bohea, 

To  muse  and  spill  her  solitary  tea, 

Or  o'er  cold  coffee  trifle  with  the  spoon. 

Count  the  slow  clock,  and  dine  exact  at  noon  ; 

Divert  her  eyes  with  pictures  in  the  fire. 

Hum  half  a  tune,  tell  stories  to  the  squire  ; 

Up  to  her  godly  garret  after  seven. 

There  starve  and  pray,  for  that's  the  way  to  heaven. 

Her  only  admirer  is  a  rough  country  squire, 
who — 

With  his  hounds  comes  hallooing  from  the  stable, 
Makes  love  with  nods  and  knees  beneath  a  table ; 
Whose  laughs  are  hearty,  though  his  jests  are  coarse, 
And  loves  you  best  of  all  things — but  his  horse. 

In  pensive  thought  Zephalinda  recalls  each  fancied 
scene,  dreams  of  her  past  triumphs,  and  sees  "  Coro- 
nations rise  on  every  green."     In  a  charming  passage 

^  This  Epistle  was  not  published  till  1717. 

^  The  heroine  is  called  Zephalinda,  the  fanciful  name  under 
which  Teresa  corresponded  with  James  M  oore  Smyth,  afterwards 
satirised  in  "  The  Dunciad." 


138  Mr.  Pope 

which  is  worth  all  his  letters  of  gallantry  and 
compliment  put  together,  the  poet  concludes  : 

So  when  your  slave  at  some  dear  idle  time, 
(Not  plagued  with  headaches,  or  the  want  of  rhyme) 
Stands  in  the  streets,  abstracted  from  the  crew, 
And,  while  he  seems  to  study,  thinks  of  you  ; 
Just  when  his  fancy  points  your  sprightly  eyes, 
Or  sees  the  blush  of  soft  Parthenia  ^  rise. 
Gay  pats  my  shoulder,  and  you  vanish  quite. 
Streets,  chairs,  and  coxcombs  rush  upon  my  sight ; 
Vex'd  to  be  still  in  town,  I  knit  my  brow, 
Look  sour,  and  hum  a  tune,  as  you  may  now,^ 

But  if  Pope  addressed  verses  to  Zephalinda,  he 
wrote  even  more  ardent  love-letters  to  Parthenissa 
about  the  same  time.  Patty,  it  appears,  had  sent 
him  two  charming  notes,  and,  when  admittedly  not 
quite  sober,  he  replies,  in  more  than  usually 
rhapsodical  style  : 

"  Most  Divine  ! 

"It  is  some  proof  of  my  sincerity  towards 
you  that  I  write  when  I  am  prepared  by  drinking 
to  speak  the  truth  ;  and  sure  a  letter  after  twelve 
at  night  must  abound  with  that  noble  ingredient. 
That  heart  must  have  abundance  of  flames,  which 
is  at  once  warmed  by  wine  and  you.  ...  In  these 
overflowings  of  my  heart  I  pay  you  my  thanks  for 
those  two  obliging  letters  you  favoured  me  with 
of  the  1 8th  and  24th  instant.  That  which  begins 
with    '  My   charming    Mr.    Pope  !  '    was    a   delight 

1  Parthenissa  was  the  name  that  Martha  assumed  in  the  corre- 
spondence with  Moore  Smyth. 

^  One  manuscript  version  ended  with  sixteen  offensive  lines, 
which  were  first  published  by  Warton, 


** Epistle  to  a  Young  Lady**  139 

to  me  beyond  expression ;  you  have  at  last  entirely 
gained  conquest  over  your  fair  sister.  It  is  true 
you  are  not  handsome,  for  you  are  a  woman,  and 
think  you  are  not  ;  but  this  good-humour  and  tender- 
ness for  me  has  a  charm  which  cannot  be  resisted. 
That  face  must  needs  be  irresistible  which  was 
adorned  with  smiles,  even  when  it  could  not  see 
the  coronation.  I  do  suppose  you  will  not  show 
this  epistle  out  of  vanity,  as  I  doubt  not  your 
sister  does  all  I  write  to  her.  Indeed,  to  correspond 
with  Mr.  Pope  may  make  any  one  proud  who  lives 
under  a  dejection  of  heart  in  the  country.  Every 
one  values  Mr,  Pope,  but  every  one  for  a  different 
reason  :  one  for  his  adherence  to  the  Catholic  faith, 
another  for  his  neglect  of  Popish  superstition  ;  one 
for  his  grave  behaviour,  another  for  his  whimsical- 
ness  ;  Mr.  Titcomb  for  his  pretty,  atheistical  jests, 
Mr.  Caryll  for  his  moral  and  Christian  sentences  ; 
Mrs.  Teresa  for  his  reflections  on  Mrs.  Patty,  and 
Mrs.  Patty  for  his  reflections  on  Mrs.  Teresa.  It 
was  but  the  other  day  I  heard  of  Mrs.  Fermor's 
being  actually  and  directly  married.  I  wonder  how 
the  couple  at  .  .  .  look,  stare,  and  simper  since 
that  grand  secret  came  out,  which  they  so  well 
concealed  before."  ^ 

^  Miss  Fermor  married  Mr.  Perkins,  of  Upton  Court,  Reading, 
in  1714.  She  died  in  1738.  The  "Baron,"  Lord  Petre,  had 
married  Mrs.  Warmsley,  an  heiress,  in  1712,  and  died  in  17 13. 
Pope  addressed  to  his  Belinda  a  very  dull  and  stilted  letter  on  her 
marriage,  which  was  printed  with  "  The  Rape  of  the  Lock." 


CHAPTER   XIV 

1714-15 

Preparations  for  publishing  the  **  Iliad  *'—**  The 
New  Rehearsal  ** — **  The  Temple  of  Fame 


ft 


POPE  had  finished  the  actual  translation  of  the 
first  four  books  of  the  "  Iliad  "  before  he  went 
to  Bath,  but  much  still  remained  to  be  done  before 
the  first  volume  could  be  issued.  The  Preface  had 
to  be  written,  the  notes  prepared,  and  the  Introduction 
— a  "  present  "  from  Parnell — revised.  In  November 
the  poet  spent  two  or  three  weeks  in  London  on 
business.  The  business  consisted  in  part,  as  he  tells 
Caryll,  of  "  perpetually  waiting  upon  the  great,  and 
using  no  less  solicitation  to  gain  their  opinion  upon 
my  Homer,  than  others  at  this  time  do  to  obtain 
preferments.  As  soon  as  I  can  collect  all  the 
objections  of  the  two  or  three  noble  judges,  and  of 
the  five  or  six  best  poets,  I  shall  fly  to  Lady  holt,  as 
a  proper  place  to  review  and  correct  the  whole  for 
the  last  time." 

Pope  had  had  time  to  reflect  on  Jervas's  well-meant 
advice  concerning  his  relations  with  Addison.  He 
now  thought  it  best  to  come  down  off  his  high  horse, 
and  approached  "  Mr.  Secretary  "  in  a  conciliatory 
spirit.  In  October  he  wrote  to  Addison  to  express 
his  sincere  hope  that  some  late  malevolences  had  lost 

140 


Preparations  for  publishing  the  ^* Iliad**     141 

their  effect.  "  Indeed,"  he  adds,  "  it  is  neither  for 
me  nor  my  enemies  to  pretend  to  tell  you  whether  I 
am  your  friend  or  not  ;  but  if  you  judge  by  pro- 
babilities, I  beg  to  know  which  of  your  poetical 
acquaintances  has  so  little  interest  in  pretending  to 
be  so.  Methinks  no  man  should  question  the  real 
friendship  of  one  who  desires  no  real  service.  I  am 
only  to  get  as  much  from  the  Whigs  as  I  got  from 
the  Tories,  that  is  to  say,  civility."  He  has  heard 
that  Addison  has  spoken  of  him  in  a  friendly  manner, 
and  is  certain  that  the  author  of  Cato  could  never 
speak  one  thing  and  think  another.  In  proof  of  his 
faith,  he  will  ask  a  favour.  "  It  is  that  you  would 
look  over  the  first  two  books  of  my  translation  of 
Homer,  which  are  in  the  hands  of  my  Lord  Halifax. 
I  am  sensible  how  much  the  poetical  reputation  of 
any  poetical  work  will  depend  upon  the  reputation 
you  give  it."  He  also  requests  that  Addison  will 
point  out  the  strokes  of  ill-nature  which  he  had 
discovered  in  the  "  Essay  on  Criticism,"  now  about 
to  be  reprinted.^ 

According  to  Roscoe's  account,  Addison  replied 
that,  as  he  had  already  read  a  translation  by  Tickell 
of  the  first  book  of  the  "  Iliad,"  he  did  not  feel 
that  it  would  be  right  for  him  to  read  Pope's  ver- 
sion. He  was  willing,  however,  to  read  the  second 
book,  which  he  did,  and  returned  it  with  "high 
commendation." 

The  king  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  were  among 

the  subscribers  for  the  "  Iliad,"  the  one  sending  a 

hundred  guineas,  the  other  fifty,  while  the  leading 

Whigs  were  not  slow  to  follow  the  royal  lead.     Lord 

^  The  authenticity  of  this  letter  is  doubtful. 


142  Mr,  Pope 

Halifax,  now  at  the  head  of  the  Treasury,  who  loved 
to  pose  as  a  patron  of  literature,  made  some  vague 
suggestion  about  a  pension,  to  which  Pope  returned 
an  equally  vague  answer.  He  acknowledged  the 
favours  he  had  already  received,  and  those  Lord 
Halifax  was  pleased  to  intend  him. 

"  Your  lordship,"  he  continues,  "  may  either  cause 
me  to  live  agreeably  in  the  town  or  contentedly  in 
the  country,  which  is  really  all  the  difference  1  set 
between  an  easy  fortune  and  a  small  one.  It  is, 
indeed,  a  high  strain  of  generosity  in  you,  to  think 
of  making  me  easy  all  my  life,  only  because  I  have 
been  so  happy  as  to  divert  you  an  hour  or  two  ; 
but,  if  I  may  have  leave  to  add  because  you  think 
me  no  enemy  to  my  country,  there  will  appear  a 
better  reason,  for  I  must  be  of  consequence." 

Nothing  came  of  the  minister's  tentative  offer,  but 
Pope  was  honoured  with  an  invitation  to  read  aloud 
his  work  at  Halifax's  house,  on  which  occasion 
Addison,  Congreve,  and  Garth  were  among  the 
audience.  Four  or  five  times  during  the  reading 
Lord  Halifax  stopped  him  very  civilly,  saying  :  "  I 
beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  Pope,  but  there  is  something 
in  that  passage  that  does  not  quite  please  me.  Be  so 
good  as  to  mark  the  place,  and  consider  it  a  little  more 
at  your  leisure.  I  am  sure  you  can  give  it  a  better 
turn."  Perplexed  by  this  amorphous  kind  of  criticism, 
Pope  carefully  went  over  the  offending  lines,  but  he 
could  not  discover  what  his  lordship  meant.  At 
length  he  consulted  Garth,  who  laughed  heartily  at 
his  embarrassment,  and  said  that  evidently  he  had  not 
been  long  enough  acquainted  with  Lord  Halifax  to 
know  his  ways,  and  that  there  was  no  necessity  for 


Preparations  for  publishing  the  ** Iliad**     143 

puzzling  over  the  criticised  passages.  "  All  you 
need  do,"  he  explained,  "  is  to  leave  them  just  as 
they  are  ;  call  on  Lord  Halifax  two  or  three  months 
hence,  thank  him  for  his  kind  observations  on  those 
passages,  and  then  read  them  to  him  as  altered." 
Pope  followed  the  doctor's  advice,  and  the  next  time 
his  lordship  heard  the  unaltered  passages,  he  was 
extremely  delighted,  and  cried  out,  "Aye  now, 
Mr.  Pope,  they  are  perfectly  right  !  Nothing  can  be 
better."  ' 

The  rout  of  Pope's  Tory  friends  was  now  com- 
plete. Their  faint  hope  that  George  I.  might  try  to 
conciliate  both  parties  had  not  been  realised.  One 
of  the  first  acts  of  the  new  king  had  been  to  dismiss 
Bolingbroke  from  all  his  offices,  and  a  propos  of  this 
disgrace  Pope  remarks,  in  an  undated  letter  to  the 
ladies  of  Mapledurham  : 

"  I  returned  home  as  slow  and  contemplative 
after  I  had  parted  from  you  as  my  Lord  (Boling- 
broke) retired  from  the  Court  and  glory  to  his 
country  seat  and  wife  a  week  ago.  I  found  here  a 
dismal,  desponding  letter  from  the  son  of  another 
great  courtier  who  expects  the  same  fate,  and  who 
tells  me  the  great  ones  of  the  earth  will  now  take  it 
very  kindly  of  the  mean  ones  if  they  will  favour 
them  with  a  visit  by  daylight."  He  sends  Mrs. 
Patty  half  a  hundred  plays  to  stay  her  stomach  till 
he  can  procure  her  a  romance  big  enough  to  satisfy 
her  great  soul  with  adventures.  "  As  for  novels,  I 
fear  she  can  depend  upon  none  from  me  but  that  of 
my  life,  which  I  am  still,  as  I  have  been,  contriving 
all  possible  methods  to  shorten,  for  the  greater  ease 
^  Spence's  "  Anecdotes." 


144  Mr.  Pope 

both  of  the  historian  and  of  the  reader.  May  she 
believe  all  the  passion  and  tenderness  expressed  in 
the  romances  to  be  but  a  faint  image  of  what  I  bear 
her,  and  may  you  (who  read  nothing)  take  the  same 
truth  on  hearing  it  from  me." 

Now  that  the  palmy  days  of  the  literary  clubs  and 
J  coffee-houses  were  almost  at  an  end,  owing  to  the 
eclipse  of  the  Tory  wits  and  the  political  occupations 
of  the  Whig  wits,  a  glance  may  be  given  at  a  curious 
little  skit  by  Gildon  ^  called.  The  new  Rehearsal ; 
or^  Bays  the  Tounger,  which  satirises  Pope,  his  friend 
Rowe,  the  dramatist,  and,  incidentally,  the  literary 
society  that  foregathered  at  Button's.  The  skit  is, 
of  course,  a  parody  of  Buckingham's  famous  farce. 
The  Rehearsal,  and  the  characters  consist  of  True- 
wit,  who  has  just  returned  to  town  from  a  long 
absence  in  the  country,  Freeman  his  friend.  Sir 
Indolent  Easie,^  a  man  of  wit  who  is  pleased  with 
everything  and  every  writer,  Mr.  Bays  the  Younger,^ 
a  pedantic,  reciting  poet,  admired  by  the  mob  and 

^  Charles  Gildon  (1665-1724).  He  wrote  several  plays  and  a 
"  Life  of  Defoe."  It  is  stated  that  he  attacked  Pope  in  some  work 
relating  to  Wycherley,  but  this  has  not  been  identified.  He  was 
one  of  the  victims  of  "  The  Dunciad." 

*  Truewit  and  Freeman  are  probably  imaginary  persons,  but 
Sir  Indolent  Easie  may  have  been  meant  for  Steele. 

^  Bays  the  Younger  was  intended  for  Nicholas  Rowe,  the 
dramatist  (1674-1718),  who  was  a  friend  of  Pope's.  His  most 
successful  tragedies  were  Tamerlane^  Jane  SJiorc^  and  Lady  Jane 
Grey.  Like  Pope,  he  edited  Shakespeare  and  translated  a  classic. 
In  a  letter  to  Caryll  (September  20,  171 3)  Pope  says  that  Rowe 
has  just  spent  a  week  with  him  at  Binfield,  and  adds  :  "  I  need 
not  tell  you  how  much  a  man  of  his  turn  could  not  but  entertain 
me  ;  but  I  must  acquaint  you  there  is  a  vivacity  and  gaiety  of 
disposition  almost  peculiar  to  that  gentleman,  which  renders  it 
impossible  to  part  from  him  without  that  uneasiness  and  chagrin 
which  generally  succeeds  all  great  pleasures." 


*i 


The  New  Rehearsar*  145 

by  himself,  and  Sawney  Dapper,  "  a  young  poet  of 
the  modern  stamp,  an  easy  versifyer,  conceited,  and 
a  contemner  secretly  of  others."  ^  Truewit  meets 
Freeman  at  the  Rose  Tavern,  Covent  Garden,  and 
asks  whether  Will's  still  holds  its  ground,  and 
whether  men,  now  as  formerly,  become  wits  by 
sipping  tea  and  coffee  with  Wycherley  and  the  reign- 
ing poets. 

"  No,  no,"  replies  Freeman,  "  there  have  been 
great  changes  in  the  state  of  affairs.  Button's  is 
now  the  Established  Wits'  Coffee-house,  and  all 
the  young  scribblers  pay  their  attendance  nightly 
there  to  keep  up  their  pretensions  to  sense  and  under- 
standing." As  for  the  poets,  "a  tolerable  knack  of 
versification  sets  any  man  up  for  an  author,  but  as 
for  force  of  genius,  art,  imagery,  or  true  sense,  they 
are  still  thought  very  needless  qualifications  in  a 
poet."  A  discussion  follows  on  Rowe's  plays,  and 
it  is  decided  that  these  are  not  tragedies  at  all  in  the 
true  sense  of  the  word. 

In  the  second  Act  Sawney  Dapper  and  Sir  Indolent 
Easie  join  the  party.  Dapper  expresses  his  regret 
that  he  has  just  missed  a  discourse  on  his  favourite 
subjects,  poetry  and  criticism.  "  But,"  observes 
Freeman,  "  it  was  criticising  upon  poetry,  which  you 
gentlemen  that  entertain  the  town  that  way  are 
mortal  enemies  to." 

"  I  must  needs  say,"  replies  Dapper,  "  that  if  I 
had  not  written  a  criticism  myself  I  should  not  say 
so  much  in  its  praise.  ...  I  appeared  first  in  the 
character    of   a    critic    in    ierroretn    to    the    reigning 

'  Sawney  was  intended  for  Pope,  and  the  name  stuck  to  him  all 
his  life. 

VOL.    I  10 


146  Mr.  Pope 

wits  of  the  time,  that  they  should  the  more  easily 
admit  me  into  their  number.  But  then,  for  their 
encouragement,  I  writ  in  rhyme ;  and  faith,  to  say 
truth,  as  to  matter,  not  so  far  above  them  as  to 
make  them  fear  that  I  should  not  fall  down  to  their 
level." 

Truewit  and  Freeman,  pretending  to  be  greatly 
impressed,  suggest  that  Dapper  should  teach  the  art 
of  "  raising  a  name  by  poetry  without  any." 

Dapper.  I  know  not  but  it  might  be  a  good 
project,  and  what  I  would  undertake,  did  not  the 
Greek  poets  lie  on  my  hands  now  for  a  translation. 

Sir  Indolent.  I  did  not  know  that  you  under- 
stood Greek.  You  are  a  mighty  industrious  young 
man. 

Dapper.  Why,  if  I  did  not  understand  Greek, 
what  of  that  ?  I  hope  a  man  may  translate  a  Greek 
author  without  understanding  Greek. 

He  then  proceeds  to  give  a  little  dissertation  on  the 
arts  and  qualifications  necessary  to  success  in  Hterature. 
It  was  essential  to  have  a  knack  at  rhyme  and  a  flow- 
ing versification,  but  that  was  become  so  common  that 
few  wanted  it.  Then  the  author  must  choose  "  some 
odd,  out-of-the-way  subject,  some  trifle  or  other  that 
would  surprise  the  common  reader  to  think  that 
anything  could  be  written  upon  it — such  as  a  Fan, 
a  Lock  of  Hair,  or  the  like."  Boileau  and  Garth, 
to  be  sure,  had  treated  of  little  things  with  magni- 
ficence of  verse,  but  something  newer  was  wanted 
now,  such  as  heroic  doggreV  which  had  but  lately 
been  found   out,   where   the  verse  and   the   subject 

*  Sir   Plume's    speech   is   quoted   as   an    example   of  "  Heroic 
Doggrel." 


''The  New  RehearsaP'  147 

agreed.  It  was  desirable,  also,  to  have  a  new  manner 
of  address,  and  to  make  women  speak  indecently, 
whether  they  were  women  of  honour  or  no.  One 
of  his  most  successful  methods  of  getting  fame  was 
to  write  a  copy  of  verses  in  his  own  praise,  and  put 
the  name  of  a  celebrated  old  author  to  it.^  Again, 
there  were  then,  as  the  company  knew,  two  parties 
of  wits,  with  two  or  three  men  at  the  head  of  them. 
He  first  fixed  himself  on  the  good-nature  and  easy 
temper  of  the  men  of  real  merit,  who  cried  him  up, 
and  recommended  him  to  the  town,  and  the  town 
took  their  words."  He  then  gave  his  approbation  to 
the  works  of  the  heads  of  the  other  party,  that  is,  of 
those  who  had  vogue  and  no  merit,  and  by  this 
means  had  gained  them  and  all  their  friends.^ 

"  I  protest,  sir,"  comments  Truewit,  "  you  are  a 
great  politician.  I  know  not  but  what  you  may  make 
a  Minister  of  State  in  time,  if  ever  the  Pretender 
should  come,  by  your  candour  and  penetration." 

Pope  was  certainly  a  politician  in  so  far  that  he 
realised  the  importance  of  "  keeping  himself  before 
the  public."  ^  His  arduous  work  on  the  "  Iliad  "  left 
him  little  or  no  leisure  for  original  composition,  but 
about  this  time  he  bethought  him  of  his  poem,  "  The 

^  Pope  was  accused  of  having  written  the  copy  of  verses  which 
Wycherley  published  in  honour  of  the  "  Pastorals." 

^  The  men  of  true  merit  were,  no  doubt,  Steele  and  Addison. 

^  The  heads  of  the  other  party  of  wits  were  presumably  Swift 
and  Arbuthnot. 

*  In  €714  Pope  had  written  an  amusing  skit  called  "  The  Key  to 
the  Lock,"  which  was  published  in  1715.  In  this  he  pretends  that 
the  Lock  is  intended  for  the  Barrier  Treaty,  Belinda  for  Queen 
Anne,  Clarissa  for  Lady  Masham,  Thalestris  for  the  Duchess  of 
Marlborough,  Sir  Plume  for  Prince  Eugene,  the  Baron  for  Lord 
Oxford,  the  Wounded  Sylph  for  Lord  Townshend,  and  Shock  for 
Dr.  Sacheverel  ! 


148  Mr.  Pope 

Temple  of  Fame,"  which  had  been  written  in  17 10, 
and  read  by  Steele  in  17 12.  This  imitation  of 
Chaucer's  "  House  of  Fame  "  may  not  unjustly  be 
described  as  an  "  academic  exercise,"  and  shows  the 
poet  still  in  leading-strings,  but  it  is  superior  in  style 
and  versification  to  the  work  of  his  contemporaries. 
At  any  rate,  Pope  thought  it  worthy  of  publication, 
and  in  February,  1 7 1 5,  he  sent  a  copy  to  Martha 
Blount,  with  the  following  letter  : 

"  I  know  you  will  think  it  an  agreeable  thing  to 
hear  that  I  have  done  a  great  deal  of  Homer.  If  it 
be  tolerable,  the  world  may  thank  you  for  it  ;  for, 
if  I  could  have  seen  you  every  day,  and  imagined 
my  company  would  have  every  day  pleased  you,  I 
should  scarce  have  thought  it  worth  my  while  to 
please  the  world.  .  .  .  Whatever  some  may  think, 
fame  is  a  thing  I  am  much  less  covetous  of  than  your 
friendship  ;  for  that,  I  hope,  will  last  all  my  life  ; 
the  other  I  cannot  answer  for.  .  ,  .  Now  I  talk 
of  fame,  I  send  you  my  '  Temple  of  Fame,'  which 
is  just  come  out,  but  my  sentiments  about  it  you 
will  see  better  by  this  epigram  : 

What's  fame  with  men,  by  custom  of  this  nation, 
Is  called  in  women  only  reputation  ; 
About  them  both  why  keep  we  such  a  pother  ? 
Part  you  with  one,  and  I'll  renounce  the  other." 

The  critics  who  thought  that  Pope  had  improved 
upon  Isaiah  and  Homer  also  held  that  he  had  im- 
proved upon  Chaucer,  but  the  general  consensus  of 
opinion  has  not  been  altogether  favourable.  The 
passage  which  has  excited  the  most  admiration  in 
this  rather  frigid  poem  is  that,  appropriately  enough, 


^*The  Temple  of  Fame^^  149 

which  describes  the  rocks  of  Zembla.  More  in- 
teresting, however,  is  the  description  of  the  Temple 
of  Rumour,  with  its  reports  of — 

Turns  of  fortune,  changes  in  the  State, 
The  falls  of  favourites,  projects  of  the  great, 
Of  old  mismanagements,  taxation  new  : 
All  neither  wholly  false  nor  wholly  true. 

Although  suggested  by  the  original,  these  lines  are 
so  far  "  topical "  that  we  may  be  sure  they  were 
inserted  in  the  winter  of  1 714-15.  Pope  was 
writing  of  what  he  saw  and  heard  when  he  described 
the — 

Astrologers,  that  future  fates  foreshow, 
Projectors,  quacks,  and  lawyers  not  a  few  ; 
And  priests  and  party-zealots,  numerous  bands, 
With  home-born  lies,  or  tales  from  foreign  lands  ; 
Each  talked  aloud,  or  in  some  secret  place, 
And  wild  impatience  stared  in  every  face. 
The  flying  rumours  gathered  as  they  rolled ; 
Scarce  any  tale  was  sooner  heard  than  told  ; 
And  all  who  told  it  added  something  new, 
And  all  who  heard  it  made  enlargements  too  ; 
In  ev'ry  ear  it  spread,  on  every  tongue  it  grew. 

As  usual,  Pope  could  not  resist  the  temptation  to 
introduce  an  allusion  to  himself  and  his  own  virtues 
at  the  close,  but  in  this  case  he  was  only  enlarging 
upon  a  hint  of  Chaucer's.  In  the  character  of  the 
poet  who  sees  the  vision  of  the  Temple  of  Fame, 
he  dreams  that  he  is  asked  whether  he  too  is  a 
candidate  for  celebrity,  and  replies  : 

'Tis  true,  said  I,  not  void  of  hopes  I  came, 
For  who  so  fond  as  youthful  bards  of  fame  ? 
But  few,  alas  !  the  casual  blessing  boast, 
So  hard  to  gain,  so  easy  to  be  lost. 


150  Mr»  Pope 

How  vain  that  second  life  in  others'  breath, 
Th'  estate  which  wits  inherit  after  death  ! 

Nor  Fame  I  sHght,  nor  for  her  favours  call ; 

She  comes  unlooked-for,  if  she  comes  at  all 

But  if  the  purchase  cost  so  dear  a  price, 

As  soothing  folly,  or  exalting  vice ; 

Oh  !  if  the  Muse  must  flatter  lawless  sway. 

And  follow  still  where  Fortune  leads  the  way ; 

Or  if  no  basis  bear  my  rising  name 

But  the  fall'n  ruins  of  another's  fame  ; 

Then  teach  me.  Heaven,  to  scorn  the  guilty  bays ; 

Drive  from  my  breast  that  wretched  love  of  praise ; 

Unblemished  let  me  live,  or  die  unknown. 

Oh  !  grant  an  honest  fame,  or  grant  me  none  ! 


CHAPTER  XV 

1715 

**rhz  What^dVcairt  ?*'— Burnet's    ^'Homer^ 
ides  ''—The  First  Volume  of  the  *'  Iliad  " 

AT  a  period  when  the  drama  was  the  passion  of 
the  English  nation,  when  the  playhouse  was 
the  popular  resort  of  the  people,  and  when  the  loves 
and  squabbles  of  actors  and  managers  were  regarded 
as  matters  of  public  interest,  it  is  somewhat  strange 
that  the  most  fashionable  poet  of  his  day  should  not 
have  been  attracted  by  the  theatre — its  instant  fame 
and  rich  rewards.  But  Pope,  as  we  have  seen, 
dreaded  the  domination  of  the  players,  and  dreaded 
perhaps  even  more  the  drastic  verdicts  of  the  mob. 
He  was  only  interested  in  the  theatre  as  he  was 
interested  in  politics,  through  his  friends,  and  his 
one  feeble  dramatic  venture  was  made  under  the 
cover  of  another's  name. 

In  February,  17 15,  Gay  made  a  decided  hit 
with  his  tragi-comi-pastoral  farce,  T'/ie  What-d'ye- 
cairt?  which,  though  it  amused  the  town,  enraged 
some  of  the  critics  by  reason  of  its  parodies  of  certain 
famous  passages  in  the  tragedies  of  Shakespeare, 
Dryden,  and  Rowe.  It  was  generally  believed  that 
Pope  and  Swift  had  helped  in  the  composition  of 
the    farce,   one   couplet   at   least — a  piece  of  advice 

151 


152  Mr.  Pope 

from  a  father  to  a  daughter — being  thought  to  show 
the  hand  that  wrote  "  The  Rape  of  the  Lock." 

Mark  my  last  words — an  honest  living  get ; 
Beware  of  Papishes,  and  learn  to  knit. 

On  March  3  Pope  and  Gay  wrote  a  joint  letter  to 
Caryll,  in  which  they  describe  the  reception  of  the 
piece  : 

"  The  farce  has  occasioned  many  different  specula- 
tions in  the  town.  Some  looked  upon  it  as  a  mere 
jest  upon  the  tragic  poets,  others  as  a  satire  on  the 
late  war.  Mr.  Cromwell,  hearing  none  of  the  words, 
and  seeing  the  action  to  be  tragical,  was  much 
astonished  to  find  the  audience  laugh,  and  says  the 
prince  and  princess  must  be  under  no  less  amaze- 
ment on  the  same  account.  Several  Templars, 
and  others  of  the  more  vociferous  kind  of  critics, 
went  with  a  resolution  to  hiss,  and  confessed  they 
were  forced  to  laugh  so  much  that  they  forgot  the 
design  they  came  with.  The  Court  in  general  has 
in  a  very  particular  manner  come  into  the  jest,  and 
the  three  first  nights — notwithstanding  two  of  them 
were  Court  nights — were  distinguished  by  very  full 
audiences  of  the  first  quality.  The  common  people 
of  the  pit  and  gallery  received  it  at  first  with  great 
gravity  and  sedateness,  some  few  with  tears,  but 
after  the  third  day  they  also  took  the  hint,  and  have 
ever  since  been  loud  in  their  claps."  ^ 

In    a    later  letter  Gay    complains    of  a    sixpenny 

1  Gay's  piece  would  now  be  described  as  a  kind  of  burlesque 
melodrama,  and  it  may  still  be  read  with  amusement.  In 
"Roxana,"  the  first  of  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu's  "Court 
Poems,"  the  prudish  heroine  (the  Duchess  of  Roxburgh)  explains 
that  to  curry  favour  with  the   Princess  of  Wales  she  forgot  her 


'^  The  What^d V'cairt  ?  *^  153 

criticism  lately  published  upon  the  tragedy  of  'The 
IVhat-cT ye-cair t  ?  wherein  the  author,  with  much 
judgment,  calls  him  a  blockhead,  and  Mr.  Pope  a 
knave. ^  The  critic's  particular  objection  was  to  the 
parodies  of  Cato^  which  he  declared  that  Gay  had 
injudiciously  and  profanely  abused.  Steele  appears 
to  have  been  of  the  same  opinion,  for  he  said  that  if 
he  had  been  in  town  the  farce  should  never  have 
appeared.  Pope,  too,  had  been  afflicted,  to  use 
Gay's  phrase,  with  a  distemper  which  proves  mortal 
to  many  poets — a  criticism.  "  Mr.  Thomas  Burnet," 
writes  Gay,  "  hath  played  the  precursor  to  the  coming 
of  Homer,  in  a  treatise  called  '  Homerides.'  He 
has  since  risen  very  much  in  his  criticisms,  and,  after 
assaulting  Homer,  made  a  daring  attack  upon  The 
What-d'ye-caWt  F "  Yet  is  there  not  a  procla- 
mation issued  for  the  burning  of  Homer  and  the 
Pope  by  the  common  hangman,  nor  is  The  What- 
d'ye-caWt  ?  yet  silenced  by  the  Lord  Chamberlain. 
They  shall  survive  the  conflagration  of  his  father's 
works,  and  live  after  his  father  is  damned  ;  for  that 
the  Bishop  Salisbury  already  is  so  in  the  opinion 
of  Dr.  Sacheverell  and  the  Church  of  Rome."  ^ 


principles  and  missed  her  prayers  to  get  dressed  by  noon,  whereas 
formerly — 

Sermons  I  sought,  and  with  a  mien  severe 
Censured  my  neighbours,  and  said  daily  prayer. 
Alas  !  how  changed — with  the  same  serious  mien 
That  once  I  prayed,  The   What-cCye-caWt?  I've  seen. 
1  This  "  Key  to  The  What-cVye-cairt?  "  was  attributed  to  Gerald 
Griffin,  an  actor  ;  but  it  is  not  improbable  that  Pope  and  Gay  were 
the  actual  authors,  knowing  full  well  the  commercial  value  of  an 
abusive  criticism. 
*  In  a  periodical  paper  called  TAe  Grumbler. 
'  Gilbert  Burnet,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  died  on  March  17,  1715. 


154  Mr.  Pope 

Burnet's  ^  "  Homerides  ;  or,  a  letter  to  Mr.  Pope, 
occasioned  by  his  intended  translation  of  Homer  ; 
by  Sir  Iliad  Doggrel,"  is  a  good-humoured,  but 
quite  undistinguished,  piece  of  chaff.  Burnet  taunts 
the  poet  with  having  undertaken  single-handed  what 
all  the  poets  of  England  dared  not  jointly  attempt. 
It  was  too  late  to  dissuade  him  from  his  mad  project, 
because  "  not  only  your  intending  subscribers,  whose 
expectations  have  been  raised  in  proportion  to  what 
their  pockets  have  been  drained  of,  but  even  the 
industrious,  foolish  Bernard  [Lintot],  who  has 
advanced  no  small  sum  of  money  for  the  copy, 
require  the  performance  of  your  articles."  All  that 
Sir  Iliad  can  now  do  is  to  render  assistance  in  the 
gigantic  task.  There  are,  he  points  out,  two  things 
to  be  considered  in  the  execution  of  every  heroic 
poem — first,  how  to  write  the  poem,  and  secondly 
how  to  make  it  sell.  The  second  being  by  far 
the  most  important,  he  offers  to  apply  to  Robin 
Powel,  the  puppet-showman,  "  and  I  doubt  not 
at  my  request  he  will  be  persuaded  to  convert  the 
whole  history  of  the  siege  of  Troy  into  a  puppet- 
show."  Further,  a  book  of  the  Proposals  for  Sub- 
scribers should  lie  open  in  Mr.  Powel's  great  room 
at  Bath,  so  that  after  each  performance  the  audience 
might  be  taken  in  to  sign  before  they  had  time 
to  cool.  The  skit  concludes  with  some  scraps  of 
burlesque  verse,  which  are  intended  as  specimens  of 
the  style  in  which  the  translation  should  be  rendered. 

The  joint    letters    written    by   Pope  and    Gay  to 

^  Thomas  Burnet,  third  son  of  the  bishop.  He  was  a  wit  and 
a  profligate  in  his  youth.  In  later  Hfe  he  became  a  judge  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  was  knighted. 


*' Homerides  ^*  155 

Caryll  are  much  more  lively,  and  contain  far  more 
news  and  gossip  than  the  more  laboured  composi- 
tions written  by  Pope  alone.  To  the  chattering  pen 
of  the  author  of"  The  Trivia"  we  owe  our  knowledge 
of  such  little  intimate  details  as  that — "  Mr.  Gay 
expects  a  present  from  the  princess ;  we  are  invited 
this  day  to  a  dinner  at  my  Lord  Lansdowne's  ;  we 
are  invited  to  see  the  lions  at  the  Tower  gratis, 
by  a  lord  who  expects  to  have  a  new  lodging  given 
him  by  Parliament.  .  .  ."  ^  That  was  in  March.  In 
April  we  learn  that  "  Mr.  Pope  is  going  to 
Mr.  Jervas's,  where  Mr.  Addison  is  sitting  for 
his  picture.  In  the  meantime,  amidst  clouds  of 
tobacco  at  Williams's  CofFee-house,  I  write  this  letter. 
We  have  agreed  to  spend  this  day  in  visits.  He 
is  to  introduce  me  to  a  lord  and  two  ladies,  and 
on  my  part — which  I  think  will  balance  his  visits — 
I  am  to  present  him  to  a  duchess.  There  is  a  grand 
revolution  at  Will's  Coffee-house.  Morrice  has 
quitted  for  a  coffee-house  in  the  city,  and  Titcombe 
is  restored,  to  the  great  joy  of  Cromwell,  who  was 
at  a  great  loss  for  a  person  to  converse  with  upon 
the  Fathers  and  church  history.  The  knowledge  I 
gain  from  him  is  entirely  in  painting  and  poetry  ; 
and  Mr.  Pope  owes  all  his  skill  in  astronomy,  and 
particularly  in  the  revolution  of  eclipses,  to  him  and 
Mr.  Whiston,  so  celebrated  of  late  for  his  discovery 
of  the  longitude  in  an  extraordinary  copy  of  verses, 
which  you  heard  when  you  were  last  in  town.  .   .   .^ 

^  Lord  Oxford,  who  was  expecting  to  be  impeached  for  his 
conduct  as  a  minister  of  the  late  Government. 

*  A  coarse  and  foolish  "  Ode  on  the  Longitude,"  written  by  Gay 
to  ridicule  Whiston's  "  New  Method  of  discovering  the  Longitude 


156  Mr.  Pope 

Mr.  Pope's  Homer  is  retarded  by  the  great  rains 
that  have  fallen  of  late,  which  caused  the  sheets 
to  be  long  a-drying.  This  gives  Mr.  Pope  great 
uneasiness,  who  is  now  endeavouring  to  corrupt  the 
curate  of  his  parish  to  pray  for  fair  weather  that 
his  work  may  go  on  the  faster."  ^ 

The  two  friends  promise  themselves  the  pleasure 
of  a  visit  to  Ladyholt,  but  Pope  stipulates  that 
he  is  to  have  his  mornings  to  himself.  "  For  my 
part,"  concludes  Gay,  "  who  do  not  deal  in  heroes  or 
ravished  ladies,  I  may  perhaps  celebrate  a  milkmaid, 
describe  the  amours  of  your  parson's  daughter,  or 
write  an  elegy  upon  the  death  of  a  hare  ;  but  my 
articles  are  quite  the  reverse  of  his — that  you  will 
interrupt  me  every  morning,  or  ten  to  one  I  shall 
first  be  troublesome,  and  interrupt  you."  In  a 
postscript  to  the  letter  Pope  complains  that  Gay 
has  forestalled  all  the  subjects  of  raillery  and  diver- 
sion, "  unless  it  should  be  to  tell  you  that  I 
sit  up  till  one  or  two  o'clock  every  night  over 
Burgundy  and  Champagne,  and  am  become  so 
much  a  modern  rake  that  I  shall  be  ashamed  in  a 
short  time  to  be  thought  to  do  any  sort  of  busi- 
ness. I  must  get  the  gout  by  drinking,  as  above 
said,  purely  for  a  fashionable  pretence  to  sit 
still  long  enough  to  translate  four  books  of 
Homer." 

The  first  volume  of  the  "  Iliad,"  a  heavy,  important- 
looking  quarto,   padded   out  with    portrait,  preface, 

by  Signals  "  (1714).  Gay's  "  Ode  "  appeared  in  Pope's  and  Swift's 
"  Miscellanies." 

^  In  the  edition  of  1735  these  joint  letters  from  Pope  and  Gay 
are  printed  as  addressed  to  Congreve. 


The  First  Volume  of  the  ^^  Iliad  *'      157 

introduction,  maps,  and  notes,  was  delivered  to 
subscribers  on  June  6,  but  the  issue  to  the  general 
public  was  delayed  because  Lintot  was  busy  printing 
the  Report  of  "  the  Committee  of  Secrecy,"  which 
had  been  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of  the 
late  Government.  Meanwhile,  Tickell's  translation 
of  the  first  book  of  the  "  Iliad  "  made  its  most  in- 
opportune appearance.^  Pope  had,  of  course,  been 
warned  by  Addison  that  this  work  was  in  prepara- 
tion, and  had  replied  that  Tickell  had  as  much  right 
to  translate  Homer  as  himself.  Now,  however,  he 
seems  to  have  imagined  that  Tickell  had  been  in- 
spired by  Addison  to  put  forth  a  rival  translation, 
and  later  he  persuaded  himself,  or  was  persuaded 
by  others,  that  Addison  was  the  actual  author  of 
the  work.  On  June  10  Bernard  Lintot  wrote  to 
Pope  in   his  laconic  style  : 

«  Sir, 

"You  have  Mr.  Tickell's  book  to  divert  one 
hour.  It  is  already  condemned  here,  and  the  malice 
and  juggle  at  Button's  is  the  conversation  of  those 
who  have  spare  moments  from  politics.  .  .  .  Pray 
detain  me  not  from  publishing  my  own  book,  having 
delivered  the  greatest  part  of  the  subscribers  already 
— upwards  of  four  hundred.  I  design  to  publish 
Monday  sevennight.      Pray  interrupt  me   not  by  an 

1  Thomas  Tickell  (1686- 1740).  He  was  appointed  Professor  of 
Poetry  at  Oxford  in  171 1,  and  in  1712  brought  out  his  "  Prospect 
of  Peace,"  a  poem  that  was  much  admired  by  Pope.  He  was  an 
intimate  friend  of  Addison's,  and  had  been  employed  by  him  in 
public  work.  He  wrote  a  fine  "  Elegy  on  the  Death  of  Addison," 
and  edited  his  works.  His  translation  of  the  first  book  of  the 
"Iliad  "was  put  forth  ostensibly  to  bespeak  the  public  favour  for 
a  translation  of  the  "  Odyssey,"  which  he  had  in  hand. 


158  Mr.  Pope 

errata  [jzV].     I  doubt  not  the  sale  of  Homer,  if  you 
do  not  disappoint  me  by  delaying  publication." 

The  publication  was  delayed,  but  not  by  the 
author.  On  June  22  Lintot  wrote  again  that 
the  hurry  he  has  been  in  to  get  the  Report  from  the 
Committee  of  Secrecy  published  has  prevented 
the  publication  of  Homer  for  the  present,  and 
adds  :  "  Those  whom  I  expected  to  be  very  noisy  on 
account  of  your  translation  are  buried  in  politics. 
.  .  .  The  Duke  of  Ormonde  ^  is  to  be  impeached 
for  high  treason,  and  Earl  of  St[rafford]  "  for  high 
crimes  and  misdemeanours." 

Oxford  and  Bolingbroke  had  been  impeached  in 
the  House  of  Lords  on  June  10.  Bolingbroke 
fled  to  France,  where  he  offered  his  services  to 
the  Pretender,  while  Oxford,  with  quiet  courage, 
awaited  his  fate  at  home.  On  July  9  he  found  the 
long-expected  lodging  in  the  Tower.  Pope  sent 
an  early  copy  of  his  work  to  Swift  at  Dublin,  and 
reproached  him  for  his  long  silence.  Swift  replied 
in   melancholy  vein  : 

"  You  talk  at  your  ease,  being  wholly  unconcerned 
in  public  events,  for  if  your  friends  the  Whigs 
continue,  you  may  hope  for  some  favour  ;  if  the 
Tories  return,  you  are,  at  least,  sure  of  quiet.  You 
know  how  well  I  loved  both  Lord  Oxford  and 
Bolingbroke,  and  how  dear  the  Duke  of  Ormonde  is 
to  me.     Do  you  imagine  I  can  be  easy  while  their 

^  James,  second  Duke  of  Ormonde  (1665-1745).  He  was  im- 
peached on  June  21,  and  retired  to  France  on  August  8.  He  was 
attainted  and  his  estates  forfeited.  He  afterwards  tried  to  stir  up 
a  Jacobite  rising  in  the  West. 

*  Thomas,  third  Earl  of  Strafford.  The  proceedings  against 
him  were  dropped. 


The  First  Volume  of  the  '^ Iliad''       159 

enemies  are  endeavouring  to  take  off  their  heads  ? 
....  I  borrowed  your  Homer  from  the  bishop 
— mine  is  not  yet  landed — and  read  it  out  in  two 
evenings.  If  it  pleases  others  as  well  as  me,  you 
have  got  your  end  in  profit  and  reputation  ;  yet  I 
am  angry  at  some  bad  rhymes  and  triplets,  and 
pray,  in  your  next,  do  not  let  me  have  so  many 
unjustifiable  rhymes  to  war  and  gocis.  I  tell  you  all 
the  faults  I  know — ^only,  in  one  or  two  places,  you 
are  a  little  obscure,  but  I  expected  you  to  be  so  in 
one  or  two  and  twenty." 

The  first  volume  of  the  Homer  was  received 
with  a  chorus  of  praise  from  friends  and  critics, 
the  echoes  of  which  resounded  through  the  century. 
In  his  Preface  Pope  says  :  "  Upon  the  whole  I 
must  confess  myself  utterly  incapable  of  doing 
justice  to  Homer.  I  attempt  him  in  no  other 
hope  but  that  which  one  may  entertain,  without  much 
vanity,  of  giving  a  more  tolerable  copy  of  him  than 
any  entire  translation  in  verse  has  yet  done."  He 
records  the  names  of  all  the  distinguished  persons 
who  had  encouraged  him  in  the  work,  including 
those  of  Oxford  and  Bolingbroke,^  and  adds  that  he 
fears  no  judges  so  little  as  the  best  poets,  who  are 
most  sensible  of  the  weight  of  the  task.  "  As  for  the 
worst,  whatever  they  shall  please  to  say,  they  may 
give  me  some  concern  as  they  are  unhappy  men, 
but  none  as  they  are  malignant  writers."  " 

"  I  have  just  set   down  Sir  Samuel  Garth  at  the 
Opera,"   Gay  writes  to   Pope  on  July  9.     "  He  bid 

^  Swift  thought  this  a  proof  of  great  courage. 
'  It  was  characteristic  of  Pope  to  assume  that  hostile  critics 
were  necessarily  unhappy  men  and  malignant  writers. 


i6o  Mr,  Pope 

me  tell  you  that  everybody  is  pleased  with  your 
translation  except  a  few  at  Button's,  and  that  Sir 
Richard  Steele  told  him  that  Addison  said  Tickell's 
translation  was  the  best  that  ever  was  in  any 
language.  ...  I  am  informed  that  at  Button's  your 
character  is  made  very  free  with  as  to  morals,  etc., 
and  Mr,  A[ddison]  says  that  your  translation  and 
Tickell's  are  both  very  well  done,  but  the  latter  has 
more  of  Homer," 

It  was  generally  agreed,  however,  that  Tickell  was 
fairly  beaten  off  the  field  by  Pope,  Jervas  declared 
that  he  could  have  made  a  more  poetical  version 
than  Tickell's  in  a  fortnight,  and  Parnell  tells  Pope  : 
"I  have  just  seen  the  first  book  of  Homer,  which 
came  out  at  a  time  when  it  could  not  but  appear  as 
a  kind  of  setting  up  against  you.  My  opinion  is 
that  you  may,  if  you  please,  give  them  thanks  who 
wrote  it." 

Old  Bentley  growled  out  that  Pope's  version  was^ 
"  a  very  pretty  poem,  but  not  Homer "  ;  ^  while 
Dennis  put  a  rod  in  pickle  against  the  appearance  of 
the  later  volumes.  The  fashionable  world,  however, 
acclaimed  the  work  as  though  it  had  been  a  scan- 
dalous memoir  or  a  new  French  romance,  and  the 
curious  spectacle  might  be  seen  of  beaux  and  belles 
devourino-  Homer  in  coffee-houses  and  boudoirs. 
It  was  declared  that  Pope  had  found  the  "  Iliad  " 
brickwork  and  left  it  marble,  and  this  was  con- 
sidered the  highest    praise.       In  our    own   day    we 

1  This  was  probably  repeated  to  Pope,  who  did  his  best  to  get 
even  with  the  Master  of  Trinity  by  means  of  attacks  in  "  The 
Dunciad  "  and  "  Imitations  of  Horace."  Bentley  never  made  any 
public  retort.  He  contented  himself  with  the  contemptuous 
remark,  "The  portentous  cub  never  forgives," 


The  First  Volume  of  the  ''  Iliad  '*       1 6 1 

prefer  old  Chapman's  rugged  reproduction  of 
Homer's  brickwork  ;  but  for  several  generations  it 
was  almost  unanimously  agreed  that  Pope's  version 
was  the  finest  that  could  be  conceived.  A  hundred 
years  after  it  was  given  to  the  world,  Byron 
asked  :  "  Who  can  ever  read  Cowper  ?  and  who 
will  ever  lay  down  Pope,  except  for  the  original  ? 
As  a  child  I  first  read  Pope's  Homer  with  a 
rapture  which  no  subsequent  work  could  ever 
afford." 

Pope,  of  course,  was  working  under  conditions 
that  rendered  his  task  immeasurably  easier  than  that 
of  the  modern  translator,  who  tries  to  project  his 
mind  into  the  Homeric  period,  to  adapt  his  style  to 
that  of  his  mighty  original,  to  preserve  the  exact 
sense,  and,  with  the  dread  of  philologists  and 
antiquarians  in  the  background,  is  so  fettered  that 
free  movement  becomes  impossible.  Pope,  as  Mr. 
Leslie  Stephen  says,  had  no  need  to  bother  his  head 
about  such  refinements.  "  He  found  a  ready-made 
style  which  was  assumed  to  be  correct ;  he  had  to 
write  in  regular  rhymed  couplets,  as  neatly  rhymed 
and  tersely  expressed  as  might  be  ;  and  the  diction 
was  equally  settled.  He  was  to  keep  to  Homer  for 
the  substance,  but  he  could  throw  in  any  little 
ornaments  to  suit  the  taste  of  his  readers  ;  and  if 
they  found  out  a  want  of  scrupulous  fidelity,  he 
might  freely  say  that  he  did  not  aim  at  such  details." 
If  the  glitter  has  worn  off,  it  may  still  be  allowed 
that  Pope  succeeded  in  what  he  attempted — namely, 
in  producing  a  spirited,  vigorous  version,  reasonably 
close  to  the  sense  of  the  original.  For  the  best  part 
of  a   hundred    years    his    work   was    regarded  with 

VOL.   I  I  I 


1 62  Mr.  Pope 

almost  equal  approval  by  the  critic,  the  man  in  the 
street,  and  the  school-boy. 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  quote  an  extract 
from  Chapman's  version  of  the  "  Iliad,"  and  compare 
it  with  Pope's  rendering  of  the  same  passage.  In 
Book  II.,  after  Nestor  has  charged  Atrides  to 
summon  the  brazen-coated  Greeks  "  to  stir  a  strong 
war  quickly  up,"  Chapman  continues  : 

The  high-voiced  heralds  instantly  he  charged  to  call  to  arms 
The   curled-head   Greeks ;   they  called ;   the    Greeks    straight 

answered  their  alarms. 
The  Jove-kept  kings  about  the  king  all  gathered  with  their 

aid, 
Ranged  in  all  tribes  and  nations.     With  the  grey-eyed  maid 
Great  yEgis  (Jove's  bright  shield)  sustained,  that  can  be  never 

old, 
Never  corrupted,  fringed  about  with  serpents,  forged  of  gold, 
As  many  as  sufficed  to  make  an  hundred  fringes  worth 
An  hundred  oxen,  every  snake  all  sprawling,  all  set  forth 
With  wondrous  spirit.    Through  the  host  with  this  the  goddess 

ran. 
In  fury  casting  round  her  eyes,  and  furnished  every  man 
With  strength,  exciting  all  to  arms,  and  fight  incessant. 

These  many-nationed  men 
Flowed  over  the  Scamandrian  field,  from  tent  and  ships  ;  the 

din 
Was  dreadful  that  the  feet  of  men  and  horse  beat  out  of 

earth, 
And  in  the  flourishing  mead  they  stood  thick  as  the  odorous 

birth 
Of  flowers,  or  leaves  bred  in  the  spring  ;  or  thick  as  swarms  of 

flies 
Throng  then  to  the  sheepcotes,  when  each  swarm  his  erring 

wing  applies 
To  milk  dewed  on  the  milk-maid's  pails ;  all  eagerly  disposed 
To  give  to  ruin  th'  Ilians.  .  .  . 


The  First  Volume  of  the  '^liad^^      163 
Pope's  version  runs  : 

The  monarch  issued  his  commands  ; 
Strait  the  loud  heralds  call  the  gathering  bands. 
The  chiefs  enclose  their  king;  the  hosts  divide, 
In  tribes  and  nations  ranked  on  every  side. 
High  in  the  midst  the  blue-eyed  Virgin  flies  ; 
From  rank  to  rank  she  darts  her  ardent  eyes  : 
The  dreadful  ^gis,  Jove's  immortal  shield, 
Blazed  on  her  arm  and  lightened  all  the  field  : 
Round  the  vast  orb  an  hundred  serpents  rolled. 
Formed  the  bright  fringe,  and  seemed  to  burn  in  gold. 
With  this  each  Grecian's  manly  breast  she  warms, 
Swells  their  bold  hearts,  and  strings  their  nervous  arms. 


With  rushing  troops  the  plains  are  covered  o'er 

And  thundering  footsteps  shake  the  sounding  shore  : 

Along  the  river's  level  meads  they  stand. 

Thick  as  in  spring  the  flowers  adorn  the  land. 

Or  leaves  the  trees;  or  thick  as  insects  play. 

The  wandering  nation  of  a  summer's  day,^ 

That,  drawn  by  milky  steams,  at  evening  hours. 

In  gathered  swarms  surround  the  rural  bowers  ; 

From  pail  to  pail  with  busy  murmur  run 

The  gilded  legions,  glitt'ring  in  the  sun. 

So  thronged,  so  close,  the  Grecian  squadrons  stood 

In  radiant  arms,  and  thirst  for  Trojan  blood. 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  compare  a  late 
nineteenth-century  rendering  of  the  same  passage 
with  the  above.  In  1891  Mr.  Arthur  Way  pub- 
lished   a    translation    of    the    "  Iliad  "    in    rhyming 

^  This  line  is  "very  pretty,"  but  more  suited  to  a  piece  like 
"  The  Rape  of  the  Lock  "  than  to  a  great  epic.  Pope  would  not 
stoop  to  the  mention  of  flies  any  more  than  of  fish,  or  of  an  ass, 
which,  in  his  translation,  becomes  "  The  slow  beast  with  heavy 
strength  endued." 


164  Mr.  Pope 

anapaestic   hexameters,  from  which  the  following  is 
quoted  : 

And  the  saying  pleased  Agamemnon,  the  lord  of  a  warrior  folk. 
To  the  heralds  with  voice  clear-pealing,  his  host  forthright  he 

spoke. 
To  call  to  the  battle-toil  the  Achaians  with  long-flowing  hair. 
And  they  made  proclamation,  and  swiftly  the  war-folk  gathered 

there. 
And  the  heaven-fostered  kings  by  the  son  of  Atreus'  side 
Sped  swiftly  arraying  the  host,  and  Athene  the  flashing-eyed 
Was  there  with  her  glorious  immortal  ^gis  that  waxeth  not 

old; 
Danced  they  and  streamed  on  the  wind,  its  hundred  tassels  of 

gold. 
All  lovely-twisted,  and  each  was  the  worth  of  a  hundred  kine ; 
Flashing,  it  sped  adown  the  Achaian  battle  line, 
And  ever  she  spurred  them  on,  and  she  filled  each  heart  with 

might. 
And  she  made  them  fain  of  the  onset,  afire  for  the  stintless 

fight. 

•  •  >  ■  •  • 

So  from  the  tents  and  the  galleys  came  on  nation  on  nation 

of  men — - 
Pouring  forth  to  the  plain  of  Scamander,  and  ever  the  deep 

earth  under 
With  the  tramp  of  the  ranks  and  the  stamping  of  steeds  rang 

terrible  thunder. 
In  the  mead  of  Scamander  they  halted,  the  green  mead  starred 

with  flowers. 
Countless  as  leaves  or  as  blossoms  that  wake  under  spring- 
tide showers. 
Even  as  the  multitudinous  flies  in  swarms  untold. 
That  are  wheeling  and  dancing  in  spring  evermore  round  byre 

and  fold, 
When  the  milk  in  the  pail  foams   up,   and  the  bubbles  are 

bright  at  their  brim. 
So  swarmed  in  the  plain   the  Achaian  long-haired   warriors 

grim, 
Furious,  fain  to  be  rending  the  Trojans  limb  from  limb. 


CHAPTER   XVI 


1715 


**  Farewell   to  London  '* — Satire  on  Addison — 
The  Wartlike  Spirit— Visit  to  Bath 

IN  his  relief  at  feeling  that  the  first  portion  of  his 
gigantic  task  was  successfully  accomplished, 
Pope  thought  himself  entitled  to  a  little  extra  in- 
dulgence. For  a  few  weeks  he  led  a  gay  life 
about  town  with  wits  like  Gay  and  Arbuthnot, 
or  wild  young  lordlings  such  as  Warwick  and 
Hinchinbroke,  His  health  would  not  stand  a  pro- 
longed bout  of  dissipation,  and  he  was  glad  to 
retire  to  peaceful  Binfield.  Before  leaving  town  he 
wrote  a  "Farewell  to  London,"  from  which  a  few 
stanzas  may  be  quoted  : 

Farewell,  Arbuthnot's  raillery 

On  every  learned  sot ; 
And  Garth,  the  best  good  Christian  he, 

Although  he  knows  it  not. 


Why  should  I  stay  ?     Both  parties  rage  ; 

My  vixen  mistress  squalls  ; 
The  wits  in  envious  feuds  engage  : 

And  Homer  (damn  him  !)  calls. 

X65 


1 66  Mr.  Pope 

The  love  of  arts  lies  cold  and  dead 

In  Halifax's  urn  :  ^ 
And  not  one  Muse  of  all  he  fed 

Has  yet  the  grace  to  mourn. 

Still  idle,  with  a  busy  air, 

Deep  whimsies  to  contrive  ; 
The  gayest  valetudinaire, 

Most  thinking  rake,  alive. 

Solicitous  for  others'  ends, 

Though  fond  of  dear  repose  ; 
Careless  or  drowsy  with  my  friends, 

And  frolic  with  my  foes. 

Luxurious  lobster  nights,  farewell, 

For  sober,  studious  days  ! 
And  Burlington's  ^  delicious  meal 

For  salads,  tarts,  and  pease. 

Adieu  to  all  but  Gay  alone. 

Whose  soul,  sincere  apd  free, 
Loves  all  mankind,  but  flatters  none,' 

And  so  may  starve  with  me. 

Pope  had  now  thoroughly  persuaded  himself  that 
Addison  was  his  bitter  enemy,  and  was  endeavouring 
to  ruin  his  reputation,  literary  and  moral.  For 
July  1 5  there  is  a  letter  addressed  by  Pope  to  his 
friend  James  Craggs/  now  Secretary  of  State,  which 

^  Halifax  had  died  on  May  19  of  this  year. 

^  Richard  Boyle,  third  Earl  of  Burlington  (1695-1753),  commonly 
known  as  the  "  Architect  Earl."  He  was  appointed  Lord  High 
Treasurer  of  Ireland  in  this  year.  He  partly  rebuilt  Burlington 
House  in  17 16,  and  was  a  munificent  patron  of  Kent,  the  painter- 
architect. 

^  This  was  not  correct.  Gay  was  willing  enough  to  flatter 
any  one  if  he  could  be  well  with  the  court. 

''  James  Craggs  the  Younger  (1686-1721).     He  was  a  favourite 
of  George  I.,  and  in  1718  was  made  Secretary  of  State.     He  was 
supposed  to  be  the  lover  of  the  Countess  Platen,  and  was 
up  with  the  scandals  relating  to  the  South  Sea  Bubble. 


Button's  167 

gives  a  curious  account  of  literary  society  in  general, 
and  Addison's  behaviour  in  particular.-^ 

"  The  spirit  of  dissension,"  he  complains,  "  is  gone 
forth  among  us  ;  nor  is  it  a  wonder  that  Button's  is 
no  longer  Button's,  when  old  England  is  no  longer 
old  England,  that  region  of  hospitality,  society  and 
good  humour.  Party  affects  us  all,  even  the  wits, 
though  they  gain  as  little  by  politics  as  they  do  by 
their  wit.  We  talk  much  of  fine  sense,  refined  sense, 
and  exalted  sense  ;  but  for  use  and  happiness  give 
me  a  little  common  sense.  I  say  this  in  regard  to 
some  gentlemen,  professed  wits  of  our  acquaintance,  ' 
who  fancy  they  can  make  poetry  of  consequence  at 
this  time  of  day,  in  the  midst  of  their  aging  fit  of 
politics.  For  they  tell  me  the  busy  part  of  the  nation 
are  not  more  divided  about  Whig  and  Tory  than 
these  idle  fellows  of  the  feather  about  Mr.  T[ickell]'s 
and  my  translation.  I  (like  the  Tories)  have  the 
town  in  general,  that  is,  the  mob,  on  my  side  ;  but 
it  is  usual  with  the  smaller  party  to  make  up  in 
industry  what  they  want  in  number,  and  that  is  the 
case  with  the  little  senate  of  Cato.  However,  if 
our  principles  be  well  considered,  I  must  appear  a 
brave  Whig  and  Mr.  T.  a  rank  Tory  :  I  translated 
Homer  for  the  public  in  general,  he  to  gratify  the 
inordinate  desires  of  one  man  only.  We  have,  it 
seems,  a  great  Turk  in  poetry,  who  can  never  bear  a 
brother  on  the  throne  ;  and  he  has  his  mutes  too — a 
set  of  nodders,  winkers,  and  whisperers,  whose  business 
is  to  strangle  all  other  offsprings  of  wit  in  their  birth. 

*  This  letter  must  be  accepted  with  caution.  Craggs  was  a 
great  friend  of  Addison's,  and  the  part  relating  to  the  great  Turk 
of  poetry  is  probably  spurious. 


^^      ^y 


1 68  Mr.  Pope 

The  new  translator  of  Homer  is  the  humblest  slave 
he  has,  that  is  to  say,  his  first  minister  ;  let  them 
receive  the  honours  he  gives  me,  but  receive  them 
with  fear  and  trembling  ;  let  him  be  proud  of  the 
approbation  of  his  absolute  Lord.  I  appeal  to  the 
people,  as  my  rightful  judges  and  masters  ;  and  if 
they  are  not  inclined  to  condemn  me,  I  fear  no 
arbitrary,  high-flying  proceeding  from  the  small  court- 
faction  at  Button's.  But,  after  all  I  have  said  of  this 
great  man,  there  is  no  rupture  between  us.  We  are 
each  of  us  so  civil  and  obliging  that  neither 
thinks  he  is  obliged  :  and  I,  for  my  part,  treat 
with  him  as  we  do  with  the  grand  monarch  ; 
who  has  too  many  great  qualities  not  to  be  re- 
spected, though  we  know  he  watches  any  occasion 
to  oppress  us." 

Pope  declared  that  Lord  Warwick  ^  had  told  him 
it  was  vain  for  him  to  attempt  to  stand  well  with 
Addison,  whose  jealous  temper  would  admit  of  no 
friendship  with  a  rival.  Addison,  according  to  the 
same  authority,  had  encouraged  Philips  to  abuse 
Pope,  and  paid  Gildon  to  publish  scandals  about 
him.  "  The  day  after  receiving  this  information," 
relates  Pope,  "  while  I  was  heated  with  what  I  had 
heard,  I  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Addison  to  let  him 
know  that  I  was  not  unacquainted  with  this  behaviour 
of  his  ;  that  if  I  was  to  speak  severely  of  him  in 
return  for  it,  it  should  not  be  in  such  a  dirty  way  ; 
that  I  should  rather  tell  him  fairly  of  his  faults,  and 
allow  his  good  qualities,  and  that  it  should  be  some- 
thing in  the  following  manner  :   I  then  subjoined  the 

^  This   young    Lord   Warwick  was   the    son    of   the   widowed 
Countess  of  Warwick  whom  Addison  married  in  1716. 


Satire  on  Addison  169 

first  sketch  of  what  has  been  called  my  satire  on 
Addison.  He  used  me  very  civilly  ever  after  ;  and 
never  did  me  any  injustice  that  I  know  of  from 
that  time  to  his  death,  which  was  about  three  years 
after."  1 

The  above  story  was  probably  fictitious,  but  Pope 
was  especially  anxious  to  prove  that  the  "  Character  of 
Atticus,"  by  which  title  the  famous  satire  on  Addison 
is  generally  known,  was  written  before  his  enemy's 
death.  It  was  first  published  in  a  volume  of"  Miscel- 
lanies "   in   1723,^  and  Pope  was  accused  of  having 


^  Related  by  Spence.  Ayre,  in  his  "  Memoir  of  Pope,"  gives 
another  version  of  the  story,  which  was  to  the  effect  that  Pope  had 
an  interview  with  Addison  at  which  Gay  was  also  present.  Pope 
is  represented  as  having  appealed  to  Addison  to  treat  him  in  a 
candid  and  friendly  manner,  and  tell  him  how  he  had  offended. 
Addison  replied  in  a  formal  speech,  in  which  he  advised  Pope  to 
divest  himself  of  some  of  his  vanity,  as  he  had  not  reached  to 
that  pitch  of  excellence  he  might  imagine,  and  reminded  him 
that  when  he — Addison — and  Steele  corrected  his  verses,  they 
had  a  very  different  air.  He  proceeded  to  lay  before  him  all  his 
mistakes  and  inaccuracies,  and,  speaking  of  Homer,  said  Pope 
was  not  to  blame  in  attempting  it,  since  he  was  to  get  so  much 
money  by  it  ;  but  it  was  an  ill-executed  thing,  and  not  equal  to 
Tickell's.  Pope  replied  that  he  did  not  esteem  Addison  able  to 
correct  him,  and  that  he  had  known  him  too  long  to  expect  any 
friendship  ;  upbi-aided  him  with  being  a  pensioner  from  his  youth, 
sacrificing  the  very  learning  that  was  purchased  with  the  public 
money  to  a  mean  thirst  for  power  ;  that  he  was  sent  abroad  to 
encourage  literature,  and  had  always  endeavoured  to  cuff  down 
new  merit.  "  At  last  the  contest  grew  so  warm  that  they  parted 
without  any  ceremony,  and  Mr.  Pope  immediately  wrote  those 
verses  which  are  not  thought  by  all  to  be  a  very  false  character 
of  Mr.  Addison." 

^  "  Cythereia  ;  or,  New  Poems  upon  Love,  Intrigue,  etc.,"  printed 
for  E.  Curll  and  T.  Payne.  "The  Character"  was  afterwards 
printed  in  the  "  Miscellanies  "brought  out  by  Pope  and  .Swift  (1727), 
and  again,  in  a  revised  form,  in  "  The  Epistle  to  Dr.  Arbuthnot " 
(1734). 


lyo  Mr*  Pope 

waited  to  attack    Addison    until    he  was  no  longer 
able  to  defend  himself.     Hence  the  story  to  Spence, 
and  the  publication,   in  the  correspondence,   of  the 
probably  apocryphal  letter  to  Craggs.     The  "  Char- 
acter of  Atticus  "  has  rightly  been  adjudged  the  finest 
and  rr'^st  finished  of  all  Pope's  compositions  in  this 
genre.     Its  effect  is  due  partly  to  the  fact  that,  for  once, 
he  keeps  his  temper  and  frankly  admits  the  virtues 
of   his    victim  at  the  same  time   that  he   lays  bare 
his  petty  faults.      This  judicial  blame,  mingled  with 
warm  praise,  was,  of  course,  a  thousand  times  more 
damaging    than    the  most  violent  abuse  of  Dennis 
and  his   school.     Since    this    famous    fragment  was 
certainly  inspired  about  the  time  we  have  now  reached, 
whatever  the  actual  date  of  its  composition,  it  may 
best  be  quoted  here.     It  will  be  remembered  that, 
after   a   contemptuous  illusion   to    the    Grub   Street 
hacks,  the  poet  exclaims  : 

Peace  to  all  such  !  but  were  there  one  whose  fires 
True  genius  kindles,  and  fair  fame  inspires  ; 
Blest  with  each  talent,  and  each  art  to  please, 
And  born  to  write,  converse,  and  live  with  ease  : 
Should  such  a  man,  too  fond  to  rule  alone, 
Bear  like  the  Turk,  no  brother  near  the  throne. 
View  him  with  scornful,  yet  with  jealous  eyes, 
And  hate  for  ^irts  that  caused  himself  to  rise  ; 
Damn  with  faint  praise,  assent  with  civil  leer,^ 
And,  without  sneering,  teach  the  rest  to  sneer  ; 
Willing  to  wound,  and  yet  afraid  to  strike, 
Just  hint  a  fault,  and  hesitate  dislike  ; 
Alike  reserved  to  blame,  or  to  commend, 
A  timorous  foe,  and  a  suspicious  friend  ; 

1  Imitated  from  a  line  of  Wycherley's  in  The  Plain  Dealer  : 
"  And  with  faint  praises  one  another  damn." 


Satire  on  Addison  171 

Dreading  e'en  fools,  by  flatterers  besieged, 
And  so  obliging,  that  he  ne'er  obliged  ;  ^ 
Like  Cato,  give  his  little  senate  laws. 
And  sit  attentive  to  his  own  applause ; 
While  wits  and  Templars  every  sentence  raise, 
And  wonder  with  a  foolish  face  of  praise — 
Who  but  must  laugh,  if  such  a  man  there  be  ? 
Who  would  not  weep,  if  Atticus  were  he  ?  ^ 

The  flirtation  with  the  ladies  of  Mapledurham 
languished  when  "  Homer  (damn  him  !)  "  called,  but 
revived  again  when  the  translator  allowed  himself  a 
rare  interval  of  leisure.  In  June  he  had  told  Patty 
Blount  that  he  was  studying  to  forget  every  creature 
he  had  ever  loved  or  esteemed.  "  I  am  concerned 
for  nothing  in  the  world,"  he  declares,  "  but  the  life 
of  one  or  two  who  are  to  be  impeached,^  and  the 
health  of  a  lady  that  has  been  sick  ;  *  I  am  to  be 
entertained  only  with  that  jade  whom  everybody 
thinks  I  love  as  my  mistress,  but  whom  in  reality  I 
hate  as  a  wife — my  Muse." 

^  In  the  early  version  the  following  couplet  was  inserted  before 
the  Cato  line  : 

Who,  when  two  wits  on  rival  themes  contest, 
Approves  them  both,  but  likes  the  worst  the  best. 

This,  of  course,  was  an  allusion  to  the  rivalry  between  Pope  and 
Tickell. 

-  If  Pope  really  showed  "The  Atticus  Character"  to  Addison  in 
171 5,  the  latter  showed  great  magnanimity  in  praising  Pope's 
version  of  the  "  Iliad"  in  his  paper,  The  Freeholder^  May  7,  1716. 
After  expressing  his  approval  of  the  labours  of  those  who  have 
translated  the  classic  authors,  Addison  continues  :  "  The  illiterate 
among  our  countrymen  may  learn  to  judge  from  Dryden's  Virgil 
of  the  most  perfect  epic  performance ;  and  those  parts  of  Homer 
which  have  already  been  published  by  Mr.  Pope  give  us  reason 
to  think  that  the  'Iliad'  will  appear  in  English  with  as  little 
disadvantage  to  that  immortal  composition." 

^  Oxford  and  Bolingbroke. 

*  Possibly  Lady  Masham. 


172  Mn  Pope 

There  must  have  been  some  little  quarrel  between 
the  sisters  and  their  poetical  squire,  for  in  July  Pope 
sends  them  a  couple  of  painted  fans,  which  he  had 
ordered  from  Jervas,  as  a  peace-offering.  But  it  was 
no  uncommon  thing  for  little  presents  to  be  exchanged 
between  the  two  families.  Some  one  sends  Pope 
two  bottles  of  white  elder-wine,  "  which,"  he  says, 
"  looks  like  the  trick  of  a  kind,  hearty,  motherly 
gentlewoman,  and  therefore  I  believe  I  owe  it 
to  Mrs.  Blount."  In  return,  perhaps,  he  sent  the 
ladies  some  ripe  fruit  from  Mr.  Dancastle's  garden, 
wrapped  in  the  only  copy  extant  of  one  portion  of 
Homer.  No  wonder  that  he  urgently  begged  the 
wrappings  might  be  returned.^ 

Before  he  left  town  Pope  wrote  a  long  letter  to 
his  favourite,  Teresa,  in  answer  to  her  oft-repeated 
request  for  "  news."  It  is  not  a  sign  that  two  lovers 
are  together,  he  complains,  when  they  can  be  so 
impertinent  as  to  inquire  what  the  world  does,  and 
if  she  did  not  think  him  the  meanest  creature  in 
the  world  she  would  never  imagine  that  a  poet  could 
dwindle  to  a  brother  of  Dawks  and  Dyer,"  from  a 
rival  of  Tate  and  Brady.  The  chief  topic  of  the  day 
is  the  splendid  behaviour  of  Lord  Oxford  under  his 
late  reverses.  "  The  utmost  weight  of  affliction 
from  ministerial  power  and  popular  hatred  were 
almost  worth  bearing  for  the  glory  of  such  a  daunt- 
less conduct  as  he  has  shown  under  it."  Meanwhile, 
rumours  of  war  were  in  the  air.     The  clans   were 

^  Swift  alludes  to  "  paper-sparing  Pope,"  and  says  that  the  backs 

of  his  letters 

Are  filled  with  hints  and  interlined, 
Himself  can  scarcely  read  'em. 
'  Well-known  writers  of  public  news-letters. 


From  a  mezzotint  engraving  by  J.  Faber,  1733,  after  the  painting  by  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller. 

JOSEPH   ADDISON. 


Visit  to  Bath  i73 

gathering  in  the  North,  and  the  high-spirited  Teresa 
might  soon  enjoy  the  sight  of  armies  and  encamp- 
ments, standards  waving  over  her  brother's  cornfields, 
and  the  windinp:s  of  the  Thames  stained  with  blood. 

Towards  the  end  of  July  Pope  was  planning  a 
visit  to  Bath,  and  he  had  persuaded  Jervas, 
Arbuthnot,  and  "  Duke  "  Disney  ^  to  bear  him 
company  on  the  journey.  Jervas,  who  was  person- 
ally to  conduct  the  party,  found  many  difficulties 
in  his  way.  Fine  ladies  insisted  on  coming  to  be 
painted,  Arbuthnot's  patients  refused  to  get  well, 
and  the  weather  was  unsuitable  for  a  long  expedition 
on  horseback,  being  as  uncertain  as  the  political 
conditions  or  the  public  health.  At  length,  on 
August  12,  he  was  able  to  write  to  Pope  : 

"  I  could  not  have  failed  by  Tuesday's  post,  but 
that  the  doctor  could  not  be  positive  as  to  the 
time,  but  yesterday  we  met  on  horseback,  and 
took  two  or  three  turns  near  the  camp,'^  partly 
to  see  my  new  horse's  goings,  and  partly  to  name 
something  like  the  day  of  setting  forth,  and  the 
manner  thereof,  viz.  :  that  on  Thursday  next  (i8th), 
God  willing.  Dr.  A.,  D.  Disney,  and  C.  Jervas, 
rendezvous  at  Hyde  Park  Corner  about  noon,  and 
proceed  to  Mr.  Hill's,  at  Egham,  to  lodge  there. 
Friday  to  meet  Mr.  Pope  upon  the  road,  to  proceed 

^  Colonel  Disney,  described  by  Swift  as  "  a  fellow  of  abundance 
of  humour,  an  old  battered  rake,  but  very  honest."  He  was  nick- 
named "  Duke  "  Disney.  The  wits  all  loved  him,  but  Lady  M.  W. 
Montagu  describes  in  unflattering  terms  "  Duke  Disney's  grin," 
and  his — 

Broad,  plump  face,  pert  eyes  and  ruddy  skin, 
Which  showed  the  stupid  joke  that  lurked  within. 
*  The  fear  of  a  Jacobite  rising  had  induced  the  authorities  to 
establish  a  large  camp  in  Hyde  Park. 


174  Mr.  Pope 

together  to  Lord  Stawell's/  therealso  to  lodge. 
The  next  day,  Saturday,  to  Sir  William  Wyndham's, 
and  to  rest  there  the  Lord's  Day.  On  Monday 
forward  again  toward  Bath  or  Wilton,  or  as  we  shall 
then  agree.  The  doctor  proposes  that  himself  or 
his  man  ride  my  spare  horse,  and  that  I  leave  all 
equipage  to  be  sent  to  Bath  by  the  carrier  with  your 
portmanteau.  The  doctor  says  he  will  allow  none 
of  us  so  much  as  a  nightgown  or  slippers  for  the 
road — so  a  shirt  and  a  cravat  in  your  pocket  is  all 
you  must  think  of  for  this  new  scheme." 

Pope  spent  a, couple  of  months  with  his  friends 
at  Bath,  returning  to  Binfield  about  the  middle  of 
October.  He  seems  to  have  dropped  his  corre- 
spondence during  his  holiday,  and  we  only  get  a 
glimpse  of  him  and  of  Bath  at  this  season  in  the 
letters  of  Montagu  Bacon.^  Writing  to  his  cousin, 
James  Montagu,  on  September  14,  Bacon  says  : 

"  I  arrived  here  on  Saturday  night  and  began 
yesterday  to  take  the  waters.  .  .  .  There  is  a  great 
deal  of  company  here.  There  are  balls  and  plays 
and  all  sorts  of  playing.  They  do  not  forget  their 
politics  in  the  midst  of  their  waters.  The  Tories, 
who  are  the  majority,  thought  fit  to  bring  up  a 
custom  of  going  without  swords,  which  we  Whigs, 
knowing   ourselves  to  be   outnumbered,  can  by  no 

^  Lord  Stawell  lived  at  Aldermaston. 

^  Montagu  Bacon  was  a  first  cousin  of  Wortley  Montagu's,  and 
a  son  of  Nicholas  Bacon  of  Shrubland  Hall,  Coddcnham,  Suffolk. 
He  was  generally  in  bad  health,  but  he  wrote  amusing  letters, 
and  annotated  "  Hudibras."  In  middle  life  he  took  orders,  but 
his  mind  gave  way,  and  he  died  in  a  private  asylum.  He  corre- 
sponded regularly  at  this  time  with  his  cousin,  James  Montagu, 
to  whom  he  sent  the  gossip  of  the  town  and  the  Bath. 


Visit  to  Bath  175 

means  submit  to,  so  we  are  distinguished  by  that. 
I  am  lodged  in  the  house  with  two  or  three  very- 
pretty  ladies.  One  of  them  is  a  great  acquaintance 
of  my  sister,  so  you  may  be  sure  I  do  not  neglect 
the  opportunity.  Mr.  Wycherley  and  Mr.  Pope  are 
here  too.  .   .   ."  ^ 

The  whole  of  the  West  of  England  was  dis- 
affected,  thanks  to  the  efforts  of  Lord  Lansdowne 
and  the  Duke  of  Ormonde,  so  that  after  the 
Rebellion  had  broken  out  in  the  North  Bath  was 
not  a  very  desirable  place  of  residence  for  a  staunch 
Whig,  Indeed,  on  October  17,  Bacon  writes  :  "  We 
were  in  great  danger  here  before  the  soldiers  came 
down,  and  really  showed  great  magnanimity  in 
daring  to  stay.  I  hope,  since  the  king  has  so  many 
vahant  friends,  he  will  soon  see  his  desire  upon  his 


enemies." 


Pope,  as  an  intimate  friend  of  the  late  Tory 
leaders,  would  have  been  in  no  danger,  even  had  an 
insurrection  broken  out  in  the  West,  but  he  was 
already  safe  in  his  retreat  at  Binfield.  On  October 
1 1  he  wrote  thence  to  Caryll  that  he  proposed  to 
try  his  fortune  in  London  a  fortnight  later.  His 
next  volume  would  then  be  put  to  press,  and,  as  it 
consisted  entirely  of  battles,  it  might  perhaps  agree 
with  a  martial  age.  He  is  weary  of  translating, 
weary  of  poetry,  and  even  weary  of  prose,  thanks 
to  the  notes. 

The  allusions  to  the  Jacobite  rising  in  the  letters 
of  this  period  are  few,  and  those  few  are  vaguely 
worded.     This,  no  doubt,  was  partly  due  to  prudence, 

^  Pope  and  Wycherley  had  made  up  their  diflferences,  though 
they  were  never  again  on  a  footing  of  very  intimate  friendship. 


176  Mr.  Pope 

but  even  more,  perhaps,  to  Pope's  lack  of  interest 
in  public  affairs,  except  as  they  affected  his  com- 
fort, his  safety,  or  his  literary  projects.  The  laws 
against  Roman  Catholics  were  now  to  be  more 
stringently  enforced,  while  the  nation  was  too  keenly 
interested  in  the  battles  of  Preston  and  Sheriffmuir  to 
bestow  much  attention  upon  the  siege  of  Troy. 
Something  of  the  excitement  and  agitation  of  the 
day  found  its  way  into  a  letter  addressed  by  Pope  to 
Caryll  when  he  was  in  London  in  November.  He 
explains  that  he  has  been  in  a  "  wild,  distracted, 
amused,  hurried  state,"  both  of  mind  and  body,  ever 
since  he  came  to  town.  His  condition  is  really 
deserving  of  pity,  considering  how  people  of  his  turn 
love  quiet,  and  how  much  his  present  studies  require 
ease.  "  In  a  word,  this  world  and  I  agree  as  ill  as 
my  soul  and  body,  my  appetites  and  constitution, 
my  books  and  business.  So  that  I  am  more 
splenetic  than  ever  you  knew  me — concerned  for 
others,  out  of  humour  with  myself,  fearful  of  some 
things,  wearied  with  all.  .  .  .  This  town  is  in  so 
prodigious  a  ferment  of  politics  that  I,  who  never 
meddle  in  any,  am  absolutely  incapable  of  all  con- 
versation in  it." 

Pope  was  still  in  town  on  December  16  (just 
ten  days  before  the  Pretender  landed  at  Peterhead), 
when  he  wrote  to  congratulate  old  Sir  William 
Trumbull  on  his  resolution  to  remain  in  his  "  cave 
in  the  forest "  that  winter,  "  preferring  the  noise 
of  breaking  ice  to  that  of  breaking  statesmen, 
the  rage  of  storms  to  that  of  parties,  the  fury  and 
ravage  of  floods  and  tempests  to  the  precipitancy  of 
some   and  ruin  of  others,  which,  I  fear,  will  be  our 


Visit  to  Bath  i77 

daily  prospect  in  London.  ...  I  never  had  so  much 
cause  as  now  to  complain  of  my  poetical  star  that 
fixes  me,  at  this  tumultuous  time,  to  attend  the 
jingling  of  rhymes  and  the  measuring  of  syllables  ; 
to  be  almost  the  only  trifler  in  the  nation,  and  as 
ridiculous  as  the  poet  in  Petronius,  who,  while  all 
the  rest  in  the  ship  were  either  labouring  or  praying 
for  life,  was  scratching  his  head  in  a  little  room,  to 
write  a  fine  description  of  the  tempest." 


VOL.    I  12 


CHAPTER   XVII 

1716 

The  Move  to  Chiswick— Lady  Mary  Wortley 
Montagu — Curll  and  the  Court  Poems— 
*' Epistle  to  Jervas ''—Parody  of  the  First 
Psalm 

WYCHERLEY  died  on  January  i,  17 16,  aged 
seventy-five,  and  on  January  21  Pope,  who 
had  attended  at  his  old  friend's  bedside,  gives  the 
following  curious  account  of  the  last  hours  of  the 
brilliant,  wayward  dramatist  :  ^ 

"  He  had  often  told  me,  as  I  doubt  not  he  did  all 
his  acquaintance,  that  he  would  marry  as  soon  as  life 
was  despaired  of.  Accordingly,  a  few  days  before 
his  death,  he  underwent  the  ceremony,  and  joined 
those  two  sacraments,  which,  wise  men  say,  should 
be  the  last  we  should  receive  ;  for,  if  you  observe, 
matrimony  is  placed  after  extreme  unction  in  our 
catechism,  as  a  kind  of  hint  of  the  order  of  time  in 
which  they  are  to  be  taken.  The  old  man  then  lay 
down,  satisfied  in  the  conscience  of  having  by  this 
one  act  paid  his  just  debts,  obliged  a  woman  who,  he 
was  told,  had  merit,  and  shown  an  heroic  resentment 
of  the  ill-usage    of  his    next  heir.     Some    hundred 

^  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Edward  Blount,  of  Blagdon. 

178 


The  Move  to  Chiswick  179 

pounds  which  he  had  with  the  lady  discharged  those 
debts  ;  a  jointure  of  four  hundred  a  year  made  her 
a  recompense,  and  the  nephew  he  left  to  comfort 
himself  as  well  as  he  could  with  the  miserable  remains 
of  a  mortgaged  estate.  I  saw  our  friend  twice  after 
this  was  done,  less  peevish  in  his  sickness  than  he 
used  to  be  in  his  health  ;  neither  much  afraid  of 
dying,  nor,  which  in  him  had  been  more  likely, 
much  ashamed  of  marrying.  The  evening  before  he 
expired  he  called  his  young  wife  to  the  bedside,  and 
earnestly  entreated  her  not  to  deny  him  one  request, 
the  last  he  should  make.  Upon  her  assurances  of 
consenting  to  it,  he  told  her  :  '  My  dear,  it  is  only 
this  :  that  you  will  never  marry  an  old  man  again.' 
I  cannot  help  remarking  that  sickness,  which  often 
destroys  both  wit  and  wisdom,  yet  seldom  has  power 
to  remove  that  talent  which  we  call  humour.  Mr. 
Wycherley  showed  his,  even  in  this  last  compliment, 
though  1  think  his  request  a  little  hard  ;  for  why 
should  he  bar  her  from  doubling  her  jointure  on  the 
same  easy  terms  ^ " 

CThe  quiet,  simple  life  at  Binfield,  and  the  society 
.  ^.  the  honest  country  neighbours,  whose  friendship 
he  had  once  been  proud  to  gain,  could  no  longer 
satisfy  the  successful  poet.  In  the  early  part  of  this 
year  Pope  persuaded  his  father  to  sell  his  little 
house  and  piece  of  land,  and  move  to  Chiswick, 
where  they  would  be  "  under  the  wing  of  my  Lord 
Burlington."  This  desire  for  change  may  partly  be 
accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  ladies  of  the 
Blount  family  had  left  Mapledurham.  Mr.  Blount 
the  elder  had  died  in  1710,  and  his  son  had  married 
Miss    Tichborne    in    the    summer    of    17 15.     The 


i8o  Mr.  Pope 

mother  and  daughters,  turned  out  of  their  old  home, 
and  left  with  but  a  modest  income,  had  decided  to 
take  a  small  house  in  London.  In  a  letter  to  Caryll, 
dated  March  20,  Pope  says  : 

"  I  write  this  from  Windsor  Forest,  which  I  am 
come  to  take  my  last  look  and  leave  of.     We  have 
bid  our  Papist  neighbours  adieu,  much  as  those  who 
go  to  be  hanged  do  their  fellow-prisoners,  who  are 
condemned  to   follow   them  a   few   weeks   after.     I 
was  at  Whiteknights  when  I  found  the  young  ladies 
I  just  now  mentioned  spoken  of  a  little  more  coldly 
than  I  could,  at  this  time  especially,  have  wished.     I 
parted  from  honest  Mr.  Dancastle  with  tenderness, 
and  from  old  Sir  William  Trumbull  as  from  a  vener- 
able    prophet,     foretelling     with     lifted     hands     the 
miseries  to  come  upon  posterity,  which  he  was  just 
going  to  be  removed  from." 

Pope  was  full  of  anxiety  and  concern  about  the 
widowed  and  fatherless  at  Mapledurham.     "  As  I  am 
certain,"  he  continues,  "no  people  living  had  an  earlier 
and  truer  sense   of   others'   misfortunes,  or  a  more 
generous  resignation  as  to  what  might  be  their  own, 
so  I  earnestly  wish  that  whatever  part  they  must  bear 
of  these  may  be  rendered  as  supportable  to  them  as 
it  is  in  the  power  of  any  friend  to  make  it.     They 
are  beforehand   with   us  in  being  out  of  house  and 
home  by  their  brother's  marriage  ;  but  1  wish  they 
have  not  some  cause  already  to  look  upon  Maple- 
durham  with   such  sort  of  melancholy  as  we   may 
upon  our  own  seats  when  we  lose  them." 

The  new  house  was  in  a  row  called  Mawson's 
New  Buildings,  near  the  landing-stage  at  Chiswick, 
which    of  course    was    not    then    a    suburb,    but    a 


The  Move  to  Chiswick  i8i 

country  village  within  easy  reach  of  London.^  To 
be  close  to  a  landing-stage  on  the  river  was  like 
being  near  a  station  on  the  District  Railway  to-day, 
and  Pope  could  easily  take  a  boat  up  to  Whitehall 
to  meet  his  town  friends  at  the  coffee-house,  or 
down  to  the  resorts  made  fashionable  by  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  royalty — Hampton  Court,  Richmond, 
and  Twickenham.  Life  at  Chiswick,  we  may  guess, 
was  not  so  good  for  his  health  or  his  work  as  the 
quiet  retreat  in  the  Forest,  but  he  was  "living  his 
life,"  and  enjoying  all  the  pleasures  that  success 
could  bring  him.  Lord  Burlington  was  an  excellent 
neighbour,  a  man  of  varied  interests,  if  not  of 
remarkable  intellect,  for  whom  Pope  entertained  an 
affectionate  admiration,  which  found  expression  many 
years  later  in  the  famous  "  Epistle  on  the  Use  of 
Riches."  On  July  9  the  poet  wrote  to  Jervas,  who 
was  then  in  Ireland  : 

"  My  Lord  Burlington  desires  you  may  be  put  in 
mind  of  him.  His  gardens  flourish,  his  structures 
rise,  his  pictures  arrive,  and  (what  is  far  more 
valuable  than  all)  his  own  good  qualities  daily  extend 
themselves  to  all  about  him,  whereof  I,  the  meanest 
(next  to  some  Italian  chymists,  fiddlers,  brick-layers 
and  opera-makers)  am  a  living  instance."  -^ 

One  of  the  most  brilliant  women  in  the  London 
society  of  that  day  was  the  Lady  Mary  Wortley 
Montagu.  Four  years  earlier  Lady  Mary  Pierre- 
pont  had  eloped  with  Mr.  Edward  Wortley 
Montagu,  a  suitor  who  had   been   rejected   by  the 

^  Pope  was  rather  ashamed  of  Mawson's  Buildings,  and  in  after- 
years  tried  to  make  out  that  he  had  gone  straight  from  Binfield 
to  Twickenham. 


1 82  Mr.  Pope 

lady's  father,  Lord  Dorchester,^  on  account  of  his 
refusal  to  make  the  customary  marriage  settlements. 
Wortley  Montagu  was  a  man  of  jealous,  egoistical 
temperament,  and  during  the  first  two  years  of  their 
married  life  he  had  buried  his  young  wife  in  a  remote 
Yorkshire  village.  On  the  return  of  the  Whigs 
to  power  Mr.  Wortley  was  appointed  one  of  the 
Commissioners  of  the  Treasury.  With  considerable 
difficulty  his  wife  persuaded  him  to  allow  her  to  join 
him  in  London,  where  she  was  soon  acknowledged 
to  be  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  and  quite  the 
wittiest,  woman  of  the  day. 

Lord  Dorchester  had  always  affected  the  society 
of  literary  men,  and  Mr.  Wortley  was  an  intimate 
friend  of  both  Addison  and  Steele.  Lady  Mary, 
profoundly  bored  by  the  beaux  and  courtiers  who 
hovered  about  her,  struck  up  a  sentimental  friend- 
ship with  our  poet,  and  he,  dazzled  by  her  rank 
and  beauty,  and  flattered  by  her  preference,  fell 
a  willing  victim  to  her  charms."  The  lady  had  a 
knack  of  scribbling  vers  de  societe^  which  were  not 
intended  for  publication,  but  were  freely  handed 
round  among  her  friends.  Pope  read  her  poems, 
and  corrected  them,^  wrote  her  letters  in  the  fashion- 

^  Afterwards  Duke  of  Kingston. 

^  Pope  had  made  Lady  Mary's  acquaintance  in  171 5,  for  in  a 
letter  to  Teresa  Blount  of  that  year,  in  which  he  endeavours  to 
give  some  "  news,"  he  says  :  "  I  must  stop  here  till  further  advices, 
which  are  expected  from  Lady  Mary  Wortley  this  afternoon." 
V  3  There  was  something  too  much  of  this,  for  Richardson,  the 
painter,  relates  that  on  one  occasion  Lady  Mary  showed  Pope 
a  copy  of  her  verses  in  which  he  proposed  to  make  some  trifling 
alterations,  but  she  refused  his  help,  saying,  "  No,  Pope,  no  touch- 
ing, for  then  whatever  is  good  for  anything  will  pass  for  yours, 
and  the  rest  for  mine." 


Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu  183 

able  style  of  laboured  gallantry,  exchanged  scraps  of 
choice  scandal,  and  thoroughly  enjoyed  his  pseudo- 
Platonic  flirtation/ 

Lady  Mary  was  the  author — or  part  author — -of 
some  satirical  verses  entitled  "  Town  Eclogues." 
One  of  these,  "  The  Basset  Table,"  was  afterwards 
published  among  Pope's  own  works,  while  another, 
"  The  Toilette,"  was  attributed  to  Gay.  The  lady 
herself  claimed  the  whole  as  her  own  composition  ;  ^ 
but,  however  that  may  be,  three  of  the  eclogues  fell 
into  the  hands  of  Edmund  Curll,  the  too  enterprising 
bookseller,  who  published  them  in  the  spring  of 
17 16  under  the  title  of  "  Court  Poems,  by  a  Lady 
of  Quality."  In  the  advertisement  it  was  stated 
that  some  good  judges  attributed  these  poems  to 
Gay,  while  others  gave  them  to  the  judicious  trans- 
lator of  Homer. 

On  the  announcement  of  the  work.  Pope  sent  for 
Curll  to  meet  him,  with  Lintot,  at  the  Swan  Tavern 
in  Fleet  Street.  "  There,"  to  quote  Curll's  account  of 
the  affair,  "  my  brother  Lintot  drank  his  half  pint 
of  old  hock,  Mr,  Pope  his  half-pint  of  sack,  and  I 
the  same  quantity  of  an  emetic  potion,  but  no 
threatenings  passed.  Mr.  Pope  said,  *  Satire  should 
not    be     printed,'     though    he    has    now     changed 

^  Pope  liked  to  have  it  insinuated  that  the  flirtation  was  not 
altogether  Platonic.  Jervas  writes  to  Pope  (1715  or  1716)  :  "Lady 
Mary  Wortley  ordered  me  by  express  this  morning,  cedente  Gayo 
et  ridente  Fortescuvio,  to  send  you  a  letter  ...  to  come  to  her 
on  Thursday  about  five,  which  I  suppose  she  meant  in  the  evening." 

^  "  The  Town  Eclogues  "  are  among  the  contents  of  a  manuscript 
volume  endorsed  in  Lady  Mary's  writing  : 

"All  the  verse  and  prose  in  this  book  were  wrote  by  me  without 
the  assistance  of  one  line  from  any  other. 

"  Mary  Wortley  Montagu." 


1 84  Mr.  Pope 

his  mind.  I  said,  '  They  should  not  be  wrote,  for 
if  they  were,  they  would  be  printed.'  He  replied, 
Mr.  Gay's  interest  at  Court  would  be  greatly  hurt 
by  publishing  these  pieces.  That  is  all  that  passed 
in  our  triumvirate.  We  then  parted.  Pope  and 
my  brother  Lintot  went  together  to  his  shop,  and 
I  went  home  and  vomited  heartily." 

Pope  gives  his  own  version  of  the  affair,  in  a 
letter,  dated  April  20.  Among  his  items  of  news 
is  :  "A  most  ridiculous  quarrel  with  a  bookseller, 
occasioned  by  his  having  printed  some  satirical 
pieces  on  the  Court  under  my  name.  I  contrived 
to  save  the  fellow  a  beating  by  giving  him  a  vomit, 
the  history  whereof  has  been  transmitted  to  posterity 
by  a  late  Grub  Street  author."  Curll's  accusation 
against  Pope  of  an  attempt  to  poison  him  was  taken 
seriously  by  Dennis,  but  amused  the  rest  of  the  wits, 
and  Pope  brought  out  a  pamphlet  called,  "  A  Full 
and  True  Account  of  a  Horrid  and  Barbarous  Revenge 
by  Poison,  on  the  Body  of  Mr.  Edmund  Curll, 
Bookseller,  with  a  Faithful  Copy  of  his  Last  Will  and 
Testament,"  an  offensive  skit,  which  the  poet  had 
the  strange  taste  to  include  among  his  prose  works. 

The  publication  of  the  second  volume  of  Homer 
had  been  delayed  until  the  martial  spirit  of  the 
rebels  was  quelled.  Pope  himself  was  doubtful 
whether  it  was  fortunate  or  no  that  he  was  obliged 
at  this  period  (June  17 16)  to  give  up  his  whole 
time  to  Homer,  since,  without  that  employment, 
his  thoughts  must  have  turned  upon  what  was  less 
agreeable — the  violence  and  madness  of  modern 
war-makers.  He  boasts,  however,  that  he  had  be- 
come so  truly  a  citizen  of  the  world  that  he  looks 


''Epistle  to  Jervas"  185 

with  equal  indifference  on  what  he  has  left,  and  on 
what  he  has  gained.  "  The  world  is  such  a  thing 
as  one  who  thinks  pretty  much  must  either  laugh 
at  or  be  angry  with  ;  but  if  we  laugh  at  it  they 
say  we  are  proud,  and  if  we  are  angry  with  it 
they  say  we  are  ill-natured.  So  the  most  politic 
way  is  to  seem  always  better  pleased  than  one  can 
be — greater  admirers,  greater  lovers,  and  in  short, 
greater  fools  than  we  really  are.  So  shall  we  live 
comfortably  with  our  families,  quietly  with  our 
neighbours,  favoured  by  our  masters,  and  happy 
with  our  mistresses."  ^ 

Pope's  long  and  intimate  friendship  with  Jervas 
was  celebrated  this  summer  by  the  publication  of 
the  charming  Epistle  to  that  artist,  which  was  pre- 
fixed to  a  new  edition  of  Dryden's  translation  of 
Du  Fresnoy's  "  The  Art  of  Painting."  The  poet 
begins  by  urging  his  friend  to — 

Read  these  instructive  leaves  in  which  conspire 
Fresnoy's  close  art  and  Dryden's  native  fire, 

and  then,  in  autobiographical  strains,  reminds  him 
how — 

Smit  with  the  love  of  sister  arts  we  came, 

And  met  congenial,  mingling  flame  with  flame ; 

Like  friendly  colours,  found  them  both  unite, 

And  each  from  each  contract  new  strength  and  light. 

How  oft  in  pleasing  tasks  we  wear  the  day, 

While  summer  suns  roll  unperceived  away  ! 

How  oft  our  slowly-growing  works  impart, 

While  images  reflect  from  art  to  art  ! 

How  oft  review,  each  finding,  like  a  friend. 

Something  to  blame  and  something  to  commend. 

'  Almost  throughout  his  Correspondence  Pope  acts  upon  this 
principle. 


1 86  Mr.  Pope 

Then  he  describes  their  wandering  dreams  of 
travel  :  how  they  were  to  see  Italy  together,  study 
marbles  and  frescoes,  and  match  Raphael's  grace  with 
Guide's  softer  air.  Though  Du  Fresnoy  had  put 
twenty  years  of  toil  into  his  book,  Pope  points  out — 

How  faint  by  precept  is  expressed 
The  living  image  in  the  painter's  breast ! 

This  living  image  is  exemplified  by  the  beautiful 
Lady  Bridgewater,  whom  Jervas  loved  and  painted. 
She  had  died  of  small-pox  in  17 14,  aged  only  27. 

Yet  still  her  charms  in  breathing  paint  engage  ; 
Her  modest  cheek  shall  warm  a  future  age. 
Beauty,  frail  flower  !  that  every  season  fears, 
Blooms  in  thy  colours  for  a  thousand  years. 
Thus  Churchill's  race  ^  shall  other  hearts  surprise, 
And  other  beauties  envy  Wortley's  eyes  ;  - 
Each  pleasing  Blount  shall  endless  smiles  bestow. 
And  soft  Behnda's  blush  for  ever  glow.' 

Jervas  painted  "  each  pleasing  Blount  "  about  this 
period.  In  a  letter  to  Parnell  the  artist  says  :  "  I  have 
just  set  the  last  hand  to  a  couplet,  for  so  I  may  call  two 
nymphs  in  one  piece.  They  are  Pope's  favourites, 
and,  though  few,  you  will  guess  have  cost  me  more 
pains  than  any  nymphs  can  be  worth.  He  has  been 
so  unreasonable  as  to  expect  that  I  should  have  made 

^  The  four  beautiful  daughters  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  were 
Henrietta,  Countess  of  Godolphin,  afterwards  Duchess  of  Marl- 
borough ;  Anne,  Countess  of  Sutherland  ;  Elizabeth,  Countess  of 
Bridgewater  ;  and  Mary,  Duchess  of  Montagu. 

^  In  later  editions,  after  the  quarrel  with  Lady  Mary,  the  name 
was  changed  to  Worsley.  Frances,  wife  of  Sir  Robert  Worsley, 
was  also  celebrated  for  her  fine  eyes. 

'  Belinda  was,  of  course,  Arabella  Fermor. 


Parody  of  the  First  Psalm  187 

them  as  beautiful  upon  canvas  as  he  has  done  upon 
paper." 

In  the  intervals  of  translation  Pope  was  working 
upon  the  poem  of  "  Abelard  and  Eloisa,"  which  was 
to  appear  in  the  following  year.  In  a  note  to  Patty 
Blount  he  says  that  he  is  studying  ten  hours  a  day, 
and  thinking  of  her  in  spite  of  all  the  learned. 
"  '  The  Epistle  of  Eloisa  '  grows  warm,  and  begins  to 
have  some  breathings  of  the  heart  in  it,  which  may 
make  posterity  think  I  was  in  love.  I  can  scarcely 
find  it  in  my  heart  to  leave  out  the  conclusion  I  once 
intended  for  it."  ^ 

Less  creditable  was  another  composition  belonging 
to  the  same  period.  This  was  a  parody  of  the  first 
Psalm,  which  Pope  disowned  both  publicly  and 
privately.  "  I  have  taken  a  pique  against  the  Psalms 
of  David,"  he  wrote  to  Swift,  "  if  the  wicked  may  be 
credited,  who  have  printed  a  scandalous  one  in  my 
name."  He  put  an  advertisement  in  The  Postman^ 
offering  three  guineas  for  the  detection  of  the  person 
who  had  sent  the  parody  to  the  press.  When  the  >, 
publisher,  a  Mrs.  Burleigh,  stated  that  she  possessed 
the  original  in  his  own  writing,  he  thought  it  better 
to  let  the  matter  drop.  There  is  an  allusion  to  the 
affair  in  a  note  to  Teresa  Blount  (August  7),  in 
which   Pope    makes    a    laudable    attempt   to  supply 


some   "  news 


"  Mr.  Gay  has  had  a  fall  from  his  horse,  and 
broken  his  fine  snuff-box.  Your  humble  servant 
has  lost  his  blue  cloak.  Mr.  Edmund  Curll  has 
been  exercised  in  a  blanket,  and  whipped  at  West- 

^  The  last  eight  lines.     Pope  wished  Miss  Blount  to  apply  them 
to  herself. 


1 88  Mr.  Pope 

minster  by  the  boys,  whereof  the  common  prints 
have  given  some  account.^  If  you  have  seen  a 
late  advertisement,  you  will  know  that  I  have  not 
told  a  lie  (which  we  both  abominate),  but  equivo- 
cated pretty  genteelly.  You  may  be  confident  it 
was  not  done  without  leave  from  my  spiritual 
director." 

From  this  we  may  gather  that  Pope  had  not  been 
afraid  to  avow  his  authorship  of  the  parody  to  the 
sisters,  though  he  denied  it  to  Swift.  He  sometimes 
presumed  too  far  upon  even  the  Miss  Blounts' 
tolerance,  however,  for  the  despatch  of  an  improper 
epitaph  to  Teresa  was  followed  by  a  penitent  note, 
and  a  plea  for  pardon. 

"  I  assure  you,"  he  writes,  in  almost  abject  strain, 
"  as  long  as  1  have  any  memory  I  shall  never  forget 
that  piece  of  humanity  in  you.  I  must  own  I  should 
never  have  looked  for  sincerity  in  your  sex,  and 
nothing  was  so  surprising  as  to  find  it,  not  only  in 
your  sex,  but  in  two  of  the  youngest  and  fairest  of 
it.  If  it  be  possible  for  you  to  pardon  this  last  folly 
of  mine  'twill  be  a  greater  strain  of  goodness  than  I 
expect  even  from  yourselves.  But  whether  you  can 
pardon  it  or  not,  I  think  myself  obliged  to  give  you 
this  testimony  under  my  hand,  that  1  must  ever  have 
that  value  for  your  characters  as  to  express  it  for 
the  future  on  all  occasions,  and  in  all  the  ways  I  am 
capable  of." 

Swift,  it  is  tolerably  evident,  did  not  believe  in 
Pope's  denial  of  the  authorship  of  the  parody,  nor 
did    he    believe    in    the   poet's    account    of   certain 

^  This    incident  is  mentioned   in  Atterbury's    Correspondence. 
It  took  place  at  the  beginning  of  August  1716. 


Parody  of  the  First  Psalm  189 

persecutions   to  which  he   was  constantly   subjected 
on  account  of  his  religion. 

"  Who  are  all  these  enemies  you  hint  at  ?  "  he 
asks.  "  I  can  only  think  of  Curll,  Gildon,  Squire 
Burnet,  Blackmore,  and  a  ^qw  others,  whose  fame 
I  have  forgot.  Fools,  in  my  opinion,  are  as  neces- 
sary for  a  good  writer  as  pen,  ink,  and  paper.  .  .  . 
However,  I  will  grant  that  one  thorough  book- 
selling rogue  is  better  qualified  to  vex  an  author 
than  all  his  contemporary  scribblers  in  critic  or  satire, 
not  only  by  stolen  copies  of  what  was  incorrect  or 
unfit  for  the  public,  but  by  a  downright  laying  other 
men's  dulness  at  your  door.  I  had  a  long  design 
upon  the  ears  of  that  Curll  when  I  was  in  credit,  but 
the  rogue  would  never  allow  me  a  fair  stroke  at 
them,  although  my  penknife  was  ready-drawn  and 
sharp.  I  can  hardly  believe  the  relation  of  his  being 
poisoned,  although  the  historian  pretends  to  have 
been  an  eye-witness  ;  but  I  beg  pardon,  sack  might 
do  it,  though  ratsbane  would  not.  I  never  saw  the 
thing  you  mention  as  falsely  imputed  to  you;  but  I 
think  the  frolics  of  our  merry  hours,  even  when  we 
are  guilty,  should  not  be  left  to  the  mercy  of  our 
best  friends,  until  Curll  and  his  resemblers  are 
hanged." 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

1716-17 

Correspondence  with  Lady  M.  W.  Montagu — 
Country  Visits — ''Three  Hours  after  Mar^ 
riage^' — The  Quarrel  with  Cibber 

pARLY  in  17 16  Mr.  Wortley  Montagu  had 
-■— '  been  appointed  Ambassador  to  the  Porte,  and 
Lady  Mary,  a  woman  of  high  courage  and  adven- 
turous temper,  decided  to  accompany  him  on  the 
long  and  difficult  journey  to  Constantinople.  In 
July  the  party  set  out  for  Vienna,  where  they  in- 
tended to  spend  some  weeks,  and  it  is  at  this  time 
that  the  regular  correspondence  between  Pope  and 
Lady  Mary  begins.  The  poet's  letters  are,  as 
usual,  imitations  of  Voiture — a  long  way  after — and 
can  only  be  described  as  among  the  most  tiresome 
and  tasteless  of  all  his  compositions.  Yet  he  assures 
the  lady  that  his  letters  to  her  will  be  the  most 
impartial  representations  of  a  free  heart,  and  the 
truest  copies  of  a  very  mean  original.  The  freedom 
he  proposes  to  use  in  this  manner  of  talking  on 
paper  will  prove  him  one  of  the  best  sort  of  fools — 
the  honest  ones.  "  You  may  easily  imagine,"  he 
continues,  "  how  desirous  I  must  be  of  consequence 
with  a  person  who  had   taught  me  long  ago  that  it 

190 


Correspondence  with  Lady  M.  W.  Montagu  1 9 1 

was  as  possible  to  esteem  at  first  sight  as  to  love  ; 
and  who  has  since  ruined  me  for  all  the  conversation 
of  one  sex  and  almost  all  the  friendship  of  the 
other.  I  am  but  too  sensible,  through  your  means, 
that  the  company  of  men  wants  a  certain  softness  to 
recommend  it,  and  that  of  women  wants  everything 
else." 

Lady  Mary  was  doubtless  flattered  by  the  ad- 
miration of  a  man  who  was  admittedly  the  first  poet 
of  the  day,  but  she  was  quite  clever  enough  to  take 
his  compliments  for  what  they  were  worth.  "  Per- 
haps you'll  laugh  at  me,"  she  writes  from  Vienna  on 
September  14,  "  for  thanking  you  gravely  for  all  the 
obliging  concern  you  express  for  me.  'Tis  certain 
that  I  may,  if  I  please,  take  all  the  fine  things  you 
say  to  me  for  wit  and  raillery,  and  it  may  be  it 
would  be  taking  them  right.  But  I  never  in  my 
life  was  half  so  disposed  to  believe  you  in  earnest  ; 
and  that  distance  which  makes  the  continuation  of 
your  friendship  improbable  has  very  much  increased 
my  faith  in  it,  and  I  find  that  1  have  (as  well  as  the 
rest  of  my  sex),  whatever  face  I  set  on't,  a  strong 
disposition  to  believe  in  it." 

Pope  professed  to  be  horrified  at  the  idea  of  the 
winter  journey  which  the  Wortleys  proposed  to  take 
through  Hungary  to  Belgrade  and  Constantinople. 
"  For  God's  sake,"  he  exclaims,  "  value  yourself  a 
little  more,  and  don't  give  us  cause  to  imagine  that 
such  extravagant  virtue  can  exist  anywhere  else  than 
in  a  romance."  He  implores  Lady  Mary  to  write 
only  of  herself,  for  he  cares  nothing  for  descriptions 
of  shrines  and  relics,  and  had  ten  times  rather  go  on 
pilgrimage  to  see  her  face  than  John  the  Baptist's 


192  Mr,  Pope 

head.  He  dreams  of  following  her  across  Europe, 
and,  if  his  fate  be  such  that  his  body  (which  is  as  ill- 
matched  to  his  mind  as  any  wife  to  any  husband) 
be  left  behind  in  the  journey,  the  epitaph  of  Tibullus 
shall  be  set  over  his  tomb,  of  which  he  gives  a  free 
translation  : 

Here,  stopt  by  hasty  death,  Alexis  lies, 

Who  crossed  half  Europe,  led  by  Wortley's  eyes. 

Pope  paid  his  usual  round  of  country  visits  in  the 
autumn,  and  spent  a  few  days  with  Dr.  Clarke  at 
Oxford,  where  he  desired  to  consult  the  books,  maps, 
'  and  manuscripts  at  the  Bodleian  Library.     On  the 
journey    down,  which  was  made    on  horseback,  he 
had   the   company  of   his  publisher,   Lintot,  whose 
conversation   he    reported    in   an   amusing  letter  to 
Lord   BurHngton.     Lintot  described  how    he    dealt 
with    authors    and    critics.     Translators    were    the 
saddest  pack  of  rogues  in  the  world,  and  in  a  hungry 
fit  would   swear  they   understood   every  tongue  in 
the   universe.     Lintot,  who  knew    no  language  but 
his  own,  agreed  with  them  for  ten  shillings  a  sheet, 
with   the   proviso    that   he    might  have    their  work 
corrected  by  whom  he  pleased.     In  order  to  make 
sure  that  the  correctors  did  not  impose  upon  him,  he 
asked  any  civil  gentleman  that  came  into  his  shop — 
a   Scotchman,  for  choice — to  read  him  the  original 
work  in   English,  and  by  that  he  judged  whether  the 
hacks  were  worth  their  money.     As  for  the  critics, 
the  poor  ones  were  easily  corrupted  by  a  dinner  of 
beef    and    pudding.     The    rich    ones    were    simply 
given    a    sheet    of   blotted   manuscript.     With   this 
they   would  go   to   their   acquaintance  and   pretend 


Country  Visits  i93 

they  had  it  from  the  author,  who  submitted  to  their 
correction.  This  gave  some  of  them  such  an  air 
that  in  time  they  came  to  be  consulted  as  the  top 
critics  of  the  town. 

Pope  probably  paid  a  visit  to  the  Carylls  at 
East  Grinstead,  where  the  Blounts  were  staying  in 
September.  The  sisters  fancied  that  they  were  not 
made  welcome,  and  confided  their  grievances  to 
Pope. 

"Are  you  really  of  opinion,"  asks  the  poet,  "  you 
are  an  inconvenient  part  of  my  friend's  family  ? 
Do  ye  fancy  the  best  man  in  England  is  so  very 
good  as  not  to  be  fond  of  ye  ?  Why,  St.  Austin 
himself  would  have  kissed  ye — St,  Jerome  would 
have  shaved  against  your  coming — St.  Peter  would 
have  dried  his  eyes  at  the  sight  of  you."  In 
brotherly  fashion  he  wishes  them  luck  at  cards  and 
good  husbands,  and  concludes  with  a  piece  of  advice : 
"  It  is  full  as  well  to  marry  in  the  country  as  in 
the  town,  provided  you  can  bring  your  husbands 
up  with  you  afterwards,  and  make  them  stay  as 
long  as  you  will.  These  two  considerations  every 
wise  virgin  should  have  in  her  head,  not  forgetting 
the  third,  which  is — a  separate  allowance.  O  Pin- 
money  !  dear,  desirable  Pin-money  !  in  thee  are 
included  all  the  blessings  of  women.  In  these 
are  comprised  fine  clothes,  fine  lodgings,  fine 
masquerades,  fine  fellows.  Foh  !  says  Mrs.  Teresa, 
at  this  last  article — and  so  I  hold  my  tongue." 

In  November  Pope  was  staying  at  Jervas's  house 
in  Whitehall.  He  wrote  thence  to  the  artist,  who 
was  still  in  Ireland,  that  he  had  been  entertained 
at  Oxford  with  some  interesting  drawings,  including 

VOL.    I  13 


194  Mn  Pope 

the  original  designs  of  Inigo  Jones  for  Whitehall 
and  some  early  pictures  of  Jervas's,  which  future 
painters  would  look  on  as  poets  did  on  the  "  Culex  " 
of  Virgil.  He  urges  Jervas  to  make  his  appearance 
as  a  history-painter,  and  not  waste  his  time  on 
"  such  silly  stories  as  our  faces  tell  of.  Mean- 
while," he  concludes,  "  I  rule  the  family  very  ill, 
keep  bad  hours,  and  lend  out  your  pictures  about 
the  town.  See  what  it  is  to  have  a  poet  in 
your  house  !  Frank,  indeed,  does  all  he  can  in 
such  a  circumstance  ;  for,  considering  he  has  a 
wild  beast  in  it,  he  constantly  keeps  the  door 
chained." 

The  great  success  of  Gay's  farce,  'The  What-cT ye- 
caWt  ?,  tempted  Pope  and  Arbuthnot  to  aid  him, 
in  the  composition  of  a  new  piece,  Three  Hours 
after  Marriage^  which  was  produced  in  17 17.  Gay's 
star  was  in  the  ascendant  just  then,  for,  though 
he  had  not  yet  obtained  a  place,  he  had  made  a 
decided  hit  with  his  poem  "  The  Trivia  ;  or,  the 
Art  of  Walking  the  Streets  of  London,"  which  was 
published  in  17 16.  The  tiny  work  was  brought  out 
at  the  enormous  price  of  one  guinea,  and  Pope,  who 
helped  to  procure  subscribers,  believed  that  Gay 
cleared  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  out  of  it. 
Arbuthnot  declared  that  Gay  had  made  so  much  by 
his  "  Art  of  Walking  the  Streets "  that  he  was 
ready  to  set  up  his  equipage.  The  new  farce, 
which  contained  satires  on  several  well-known  men 
and  women,  was  a  very  inferior  piece  to  The  What- 
d'ye-caWt  ?.  It  was  dull,  it  was  rather  indecent, 
and  it  was  deservedly  hissed  by  the  audience.  The 
principal  character,  a  pedantic  doctor,  was  intended 


**  Three  Hours  after  Marriage  ^^        195 

for  Dr.  Woodward,^  a  physician  of  some  notoriety, 
while  his  daughter,  Phoebe  Clinket,  was  a  caricature 
of  Lady  Winchelsea,^  for  which  Pope  was  held 
responsible.  Instead  of  making  puddings,  Phoebe 
makes  pastorals,  and  when  she  ought  to  be  raising 
paste  she  is  raising  a  ghost  in  a  new  tragedy. 
Dennis  was  introduced  as  Sir  Tremendous,  a  critic, 
and  Gibber  as  Mr,  Plotwell.  It  was  an  open  secret 
that  Pope  and  Arbuthnot  had  a  hand  in  the  work. 
In  a  "  Complete  Key  "  to  the  farce,  the  following 
lines  appear  on  the  title-page  : 

The  play  is  damned,  and  Gay  would  fain  evade  it, 
He  cries,  "  Damn  Pope  and  Arbuthnot !  "  who  made  it ; 
But  the  fool's-cap  that  on  the  stage  was  thrown 
They  take  by  turns,  and  wear  it  as  their  own. 

Pope  was  deeply  mortified  at  the  failure,  though 
Gay  was  too  generous  to  allow  the  responsibiHty 
for  the  mishap  to  fall  on  the  friends  who  had  helped 
him.  There  are  genuine  pluck  and  good-humour 
in  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  Pope  after  the  first 
performance  : 

"  Too   late,   I    see   and   confess    myself  mistaken 

^  Dr.  John  Woodward  (1665-1728).  He  studied  geology  as 
well  as  medicine,  and  published  an  "  Essay  toward  a  Natural 
History  of  the  Earth."  He  was  probably  a  quarrelsome  person, 
for  he  was  expelled  from  the  council  of  the  Royal  Society  for 
insulting  Sir  Hans  Sloane. 

^  Anne,  the  poetical  Countess  of  Winchelsea.  She  published 
a  volume  of  "Miscellany  Poems"  in  1713.  On  December  15  of 
that  year  Pope  had  excused  himself  for  not  meeting  Caryll  on 
the  ground  that  "  I  was  invited  that  day  to  dinner  to  my  Lady 
Winchelsea,  and  after  dinner  to  hear  a  play  read,  at  both  which 
I  sat  in  great  disorder,  with  sickness  at  my  head  and  stomach." 
The  play  was  probably  a  tragedy  by  the  lady  herself  Lady 
Winchelsea  addressed  a  copy  of  laudatory  verses  to  Pope,  pre- 
sumably before  he  had  caricatured  her.     She  died  in  1720. 


196  Mr*  Pope 

in  relation  to  the  comedy  ;  yet  I  do  not  think, 
had  I  followed  your  advice,  and  only  introduced 
the  mummy,  that  the  absence  of  the  crocodile  had 
saved  it.  I  cannot  help  laughing  myself  (though 
the  vulgar  do  not  consider  it  was  designed  to 
look  ridiculous)  to  think  how  the  poor  monster 
and  mummy  were  dashed  at  their  reception  ;  and 
when  the  cry  was  loudest,  I  thought  that  if  the 
thing  had  been  written  by  another  I  should  have 
deemed  the  town  in  some  measure  mistaken  ; 
and  as  to  your  apprehension  that  this  may  do  us 
future  injury,  do  not  think  of  it  ;  the  doctor  has 
a  more  valuable  name  than  can  be  hurt  by  anything 
of  this  nature,  and  yours  is  doubly  safe.  I  will,  if 
any  shame  there  be,  take  it  all  to  myself,  as  indeed 
I  ought,  the  notion  being  mine,  and  never  heartily 
approved  by  you.  ...  1  beg  of  you  not  to  suffer 
this,  or  anything  else,  to  hurt  your  health.  As  I 
have  publicly  said  [in  the  Preface]  that  I  was  assisted 
by  two  friends,  I  shall  still  continue  in  the  same 
story,  professing  obstinate  silence  about  Dr.  Arbuth- 
not  and  yourself." 

The  principal  "  situation "  in  the  farce  is  that 
wherein  the  two  lovers  of  the  doctor's  wife  conceal 
themselves  in  his  laboratory,  the  one  inside  a 
mummy,  the  other  inside  a  crocodile.  Cibber,  who 
no  doubt  had  recognised  himself  in  Plotwell,  revived 
the  Duke  of  Buckingham's  ever-popular  piece,  The 
Rehearsal  in  February  of  this  year.  It  was  usual 
to  put  topical  allusions  into  the  mouth  of  "  Mr. 
Bayes,"  the  poet,  and  Cibber  introduced  a  harmless 
*'  gag  "  to  the  effect  that  he  had  intended  to  bring 
on    the    two    Kings    of    Brentford,    the    one    as    a 


The  Quarrel  with  Gibber  197 

mummy,  the  other  as  a  crocodile.  This  feeble  joke 
proved  too  much  for  Pope's  irritable  vanity.  He 
went  behind  the  scenes  and  roundly  abused  the 
actor,  who  declared  that  he  would  repeat  the  gag 
as  long  as  the  play  was  acted.  This  is  Gibber's 
story.  A  version  containing  slightly  more  detail 
is  furnished  by  a  gossiping  letter  from  Montagu 
Bacon  to  his  cousin,  James  Montagu  : 

"  To  touch  upon  the  polite  world  before  I 
conclude,  I  don't  know  whether  you  heard,  before 
you  went  out  of  town,  that  'The  Rehearsal  was 
revived,  not  having  been  acted  before  these  ten 
years,  and  Gibber  interlarded  it  with  several  things 
in  ridicule  of  the  last  play,  upon  which  Pope  went 
up  to  him  and  told  him  he  was  a  rascal,  and  if 
he  were  able  he  would  cane  him  ;  that  his  friend 
Gay  was  a  proper  fellow,  and  if  he  went  on  in 
his  sauciness  he  might  expect  such  a  reception  from 
him.  The  next  night  Gay  came  accordingly,  and, 
treating  him  as  Pope  had  done  the  night  before. 
Gibber  very  fairly  gave  him  a  fillip  on  the  nose, 
which  made  them  both  roar.  The  Guards  came 
and  parted  them,  and  carried  away  Gay,  and  so 
ended  this  poetical  scuffle." 

Bacon  was  wrong,  however  :  the  affair  did  not 
end  here,  but  resulted,  twenty  years  later,  in  Gibber's 
appearance  as  the  hero  of  "  The  Dunciad,"  vice 
Theobald  deposed. 

During  the  spring  of  this  year  Pope  was  busily 
engaged  in  preparing  his  third  volume  of  the 
"  Iliad  "  for  the  press,  and  also  in  writing  a  Preface 
for  his  collected  works,  which  were  to  appear  on 
the    same    day.     His    eyesight     suffered    from     the 


198  Mr.  Pope 

strain,  and  his  correspondence  languished,  though 
he  was  still  writing  impassioned  letters  to  Lady 
Mary  Wortley  Montagu,  for  whom,  the  further  she 
travelled  from  England,  the  warmer  his  feelings 
appeared  to  glow.  In  January  she  had  started 
on  her  journey  across  Hungary  to  Belgrade  and 
Constantinople.  Pope  professed  to  be  in  a  state  of 
alarm  and  anxiety  on  her  account  that  bordered  on 
frenzy. 

"  Till  now,"  he  writes  on  February  3,  "  I  had 
some  small  hopes  in  God  and  fortune.  I  waited 
for  accidents,  and  had  at  least  the  faint  comfort 
of  a  wish  when  I  thought  of  you  ;  I  am  now — I 
cannot  tell  what — I  will  not  tell  what,  for  it  would 
grieve  you.  This  letter  is  a  piece  of  madness,  that 
throws  me  after  you  in  a  most  distracted  manner.  I 
do  not  know  which  way  to  write,  which  way  to  send 
it,  or  if  ever  it  will  reach  your  hands.  If  it  does, 
what  can  you  infer  from  it,  but  what  I  am  half 
afraid  and  half  willing  you  should  know — how  very 
much  I  was  yours,  how  unfortunately  well  I  knew 
you,  and  with  what  a  miserable  constancy  shall  I 
ever  remember  you  ? "  He  has  no  longer  any 
desire  to  see  Italy,  but  now  envies  the  deserts  of 
Hungary  more  than  any  part  of  the  polite  world. 
"You  touch  me  very  sensibly  in  saying  you  think 
so  well  of  my  friendship  ;  in  that  you  do  me  too 
much  honour.  Would  to  God  you  would  (even 
at  this  distance)  allow  me  to  correct  this  period, 
and  change  these  phrases  according  to  the  real  truth 
of  my  heart  !  " 

Lady  Mary  had  been  assured,  in  Vienna,  that 
the  whole  Ambassadorial  party  would  be  frozen  to 


Lady  Mary  199 

death,  buried  in  snow,  or  captured  by  the  Tartars, 
while  passing  over  the  plains  of  Hungary  ;  but  by 
the  time  Pope's  letter  reached  her  she  was  in  a 
position  to  laugh  at  all  these  alarming  prophecies, 
for  she  had  found  a  warm  stove  and  plenty  of  good 
food  at  each  stopping-place.  Probably  the  poet's 
protestations  appealed  more  to  her  sense  of  humour 
than  to  her  heart  ;  at  any  rate,  she  took  no  notice 
of  them,  but  wrote  to  him  in  much  the  same  hvely, 
sensible  style  that  she  used  to  her  sister,  Lady  Mar, 
or  her  friend.  Lady  Rich.  There  is  a  little  more 
care  in  the  composition,  perhaps,  and  to  the 
"judicious  translator  of  Homer"  she  gives  some 
account  of  the  old  Greek  customs  that  still  lingered 
among  the  country  people  around  Constantinople. 

She  has  been  re-reading  Mr.  Pope's  version  of 
the  "  Iliad  "  with  infinite  pleasure,  and  finds  several 
passages  explained  of  which  she  had  not  before 
understood  the  full  beauty.  The  young  shepherds 
still  whiled  away  the  long  sunny  days  in  making 
music  upon  their  oaten  pipes,  or  weaving  garlands 
for  the  lambs  that  lay  at  their  feet.  The  old  men 
sat  in  the  gate,  and  the  ladies  passed  their  time 
at  the  loom  surrounded  by  their  maidens,  while 
the  dances  were  the  same  that  Diana  danced  on 
the  banks  of  the  Eurotas. 

In  June  Pope  sent  out  to  Constantinople  a  wooden 
box  containing  the  new  volume  of  the  "  Iliad,"  and 
"  all  that  he  was  worth  besides  " — namely,  his  col- 
lected "Works."  "  There  are  few  things  in  them," 
he  tells  Lady  Mary,  "  but  what  you  have  already 
seen,  except  '  The  Epistle  of  Eloisa  to  Abelard,'  in 
which  you  will  find  one  passage  that  I  cannot  tell 


2 


200  Mr.  Pope 

whether  to  wish  you  should  understand  or  not." 
With  an  abrupt  change  of  subject,  he  then  gives 
a  concise  summary  of  the  current  news  of  the  town. 
"  We  have  masquerades  at  the  theatre  in  the 
Haymarket  of  Mr.  Heidegers's  ^  institution  ;  they 
are  very  frequent,  yet  the  adventures  are  not  so 
numerous  but  that  of  my  Lady  Mohun  still  makes 
the  chief  figure.  Her  marriage  to  young  Mordant, 
and  all  its  circumstances,  I  suppose  you  will  have 
from  Lady  Rich  or  Miss  Griffith.  The  political 
state  is  under  great  divisions,  the  parties  of  Walpole 
and  Stanhope  as  violent  as  Whig  and  Tory.^  The 
king  and  prince  continue  two  names  ;  there  is 
nothing  like  a  coalition  but  at  the  masquerade  ; 
however,  the  princess  is  a  dissenter  from  it,  and  has 
a  very  small  party  in  so  unmodish  a  separation." 

^  J.  J.  Heidegger,  the  celebrated  manager  of  operas  and 
masquerades. 

2  The  notorious  Lady  Mohun  took,  for  her  third  husband,  Charles 
Mordaunt,  a  nephew  of  the  great  Earl  of  Peterborough.  He 
was  much  younger  than  herself. 

^  Walpole  resigned  on  April  lo,  171 7,  in  consequence  of  his 
quarrels  with  Stanhope. 


CHAPTER    XIX 

1717 

Pope's  '*  Works ''-''  The  Epistle  of  Eloisa  to 

Abelard  " 

T^HE  collected  "Works"  of  Pope,  who  was  then, 
^  be  it  remembered,  only  twenty-nine,  appeared 
on  June  3,  1 7 1  7,  in  a  substantial  quarto  volume,  with 
a  portrait  of  the  author  (engraved  by  Vertue  after 
Jervas),  numerous  vignettes  by  Gribelin,  and  a  long 
Preface.  The  Preface  deserves  some  notice  on 
account  of  the  autobiographical  style  in  which  it  is 
written.  The  poet  expresses  himself  with  a  certain 
exaggerated  modesty,  which  is  but  a  transparent 
cloak  for  his  high  appreciation  of  his  own  talents 
and  character  and  his  eager  desire  for  the  approba- 
tion of  the  public.  He  claims  that  the  world  has 
never  been  prepared  for  these  "  trifles  "  by  prefaces, 
biassed  by  recommendations,  dazzled  by  the  names 
of  great  patrons,  wheedled  with  fine  reasons,  or 
troubled  with  excuses. 

"  I  confess,"  he  continues,  "  it  was  want  of  con- 
sideration that  made  me  an  author.  I  writ  because 
it  amused  me  ;  I  corrected  because  it  was  as  pleasant 
to  me  to  correct  as   to  write  ;  and  I  published  be- 

201 


202  Mr,  Pope 

cause  I  was  told  I  might  please  such  as  it  was  a 
credit  to  please.  ...  In  this  office  of  collecting  my 
pieces,  1  am  altogether  uncertain  whether  to  look 
upon  myself  as  a  man  building  a  monument,  or 
burying  the  dead.  If  time  shall  make  it  the  former, 
may  these  poems,  as  long  as  they  last,  remain  as  a 
testimony  that  the  author  never  made  his  talents 
subservient  to  the  mean  and  unworthy  ends  of  party  or 
self-interest  ;  the  gratification  of  public  prejudices 
or  private  passions  ;  the  flattery  of  the  undeserving 
or  the  insult  of  the  unfortunate." 

If,  however,  the  publication  be  only  a  solemn 
funeral  of  his  remains,  he  desires  it  may  be  known 
that  he  dies  in  charity — and  in  his  senses,  without 
any  murmurs  against  the  justice  of  the  age,  or  any 
mad  appeals  to  posterity.  "  However,"  he  con- 
cludes, "  I  desire  it  may  then  be  considered,  that 
there  are  very  few  things  in  this  collection  which 
were  not  written  under  the  age  of  five-and-twenty  : 
so  that  my  youth  may  be  made,  as  it  never  fails  to 
be  in  executions,  a  case  of  compassion  ;  that  1  was 
never  so  concerned  about  my  works  as  to  vindicate 
them  in  print,  believing,  if  anything  was  good, 
it  would  defend  itself  and  what  was  bad  could 
never  be  defended  ;  that  I  used  no  artifice  to  raise 
or  continue  a  reputation,  depreciated  no  dead  author 
I  was  obliged  to,  bribed  no  living  one  with  unjust 
praise,  insulted  no  adversary  with  ill  language,  or, 
when  I  could  not  attack  a  rival's  work,  encouraged 
reports  against  his  morals.  To  conclude,  if  this 
volume  perish,  let  it  serve  as  a  warning  to  the  critics 
not  to  take  too  much  pains,  for  the  future,  to  destroy 
such  things  as  will  die  of  themselves  ;  and  a  memento 


^rjv///^/r/ 


From  a  mezzotint  engraving  bj-  J.  Smith  after  the  painting  by  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller. 
ALEXANDER   POPE   AT   THE   AGE  OF   28. 


Pope's  *^ Works''  203 

mori  to  some  of  my  vain  contemporaries,  the  poets, 
to  teach  them  that  when  real  merit  is  wanting,  it 
avails  nothing  to  have  been  encouraged  by  the  great, 
commended  by  the  eminent,  and  favoured  by  the 
public  in  general." 

The  first  draft  of  this  Preface,  which  was  con- 
sidered an  admirable  specimen  of  the  author's  prose 
style,  was  written  as  early  as  November  1716,  and 
sent  to  Atterbury  for  his  opinion.  The  Bishop  of 
Rochester  declared  that  the  modesty  and  good  sense 
of  the  composition  must  please  everybody  who  read 
it,  and  he  saw  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be 
printed,  "  always  provided  there  is  nothing  said 
there  which  you  have  occasion  to  unsay  hereafter,  of 
which  you  yourself  are  the  best  and  only  judge." 
There  was  a  touch  of  the  prophetic  spirit  about  this 
warning,  since  the  poet  lived  to  violate  most  of  the 
professions  he  had  here  made. 

The  two  chief  novelties  of  the  collection  were  the 
"  Elegy  in  Memory  of  an  Unfortunate  Lady  "  and 
"The  Epistle  of  Eloisa  to  Abelard."  These  two 
poems  are  supposed  to  disprove  the  accusation  some- 
times brought  against  Pope — that  he  was  merely 
the  Poet  of  Reason,  and  could  delineate  neither  the 
heights  of  passion  nor  the  depths  of  pathos.  To 
the  modern  taste,  perhaps  "  The  Epistle  of  Eloisa," 
with  all  its  splendour  of  phrasing,  seems  more  like  a 
brilliant  tour  de  force  than  an  outflow  of  genuine 
feeling.  The  work  was  probably  based  on  Hughes' 
free  translation  (published  in  1714)  of  the  French 
version  of  the  famous  Letters.  The  authenticity 
of  the  Latin  version  ^  is  not  beyond  suspicion,  and 

^  Published  in  1616. 


204  Mr,  Pope 

a    modern    critic  is   justified    in    his    adaptation    of 
Rosalind's  words  to  the  pseudo-original  : 

I  say  she  never  did  invent  "  those  letters  " ; 
This  is  a  man's  invention,  and  his  hand. 

Into  the  mouth  of  Eloisa,  whose  imagination  would 
surely  be  purged  by  long  years  of  suffering  and 
renunciation,  are  put  the  sensual  expressions  of  a 
passionate  youth.  Pope,  in  his  version,  has  exag- 
gerated rather  than  modified  this  inherent  defect, 
with  the  result  that  we  never  lose  the  impression 
that  a  man  is  masquerading  in  Eloisa's  habit — a 
young  man,  moreover,  with  his  blood  on  fire  and 
his  senses  on  the  alert. 

The  story  of  the  unfortunate  loves  of  Abelard 
and  Eloisa  is  well  known.  It  will  be  sufficient  to 
remind  the  reader  that  the  famous  Letters  were 
written  several  years  after  the  separation  of  the 
lovers.  Eloisa  and  her  nuns  had  been  established 
in  the  Paraclete  by  Abelard,  after  they  had  been 
driven  out  of  the  Abbey  of  Argenteuil.  The  lovers 
had  not  met  or  corresponded  for  several  years,  when 
a  letter  written  by  Abelard  to  a  friend  fell  into  the 
hands  of  Eloisa.  This  document,  which  contained 
an  account  of  his  unhappy  romance  and  its  conse- 
quences, reawakened  all  her  sleeping  passion,  and 
inspired  the  Letters  ^  which  have  been  celebrated  for 
nearly  three  hundred  years. 

Pope  begins  his  poem  at  the  moment  when  Eloisa, 
having  just  read  her  lover's  letter,  is  tempted  to 
write  to  him  once  again.  For  a  while  she  struggles 
with    the    temptation,    but    finally    succumbs.       In 

^  Assuming  their  authenticity. 


**The  Epistle  of  Eloisa  to  Abelard^*    205 

moving  strains  she  implores  Abelard  not  to  deny 
her  the  solace  of  his  written  words.  She  reminds 
him  of  her  innocence  when  first  they  met,  and  she 
thought  him  a  being  of  "  angelic  kind."     But  alas  ! 

From  lips  like  those,  what  precepts  failed  to  move  ? 
Too  soon  they  taught  me  'twas  no  sin  to  love  : 
Back  through  the  paths  of  pleasing  sense  I  ran, 
Nor  wished  an  angel  whom  I  loved  a  man. 

With    an    abrupt    transition   she    breaks  into  the 
now  famous  manifesto  in  favour  of  free  love  : 

How  oft,  when  pressed  to  marriage,  have  I  said, 
Curse  on  all  laws  but  those  which  love  has  made ! 
Love,  free  as  air,  at  sight  of  human  ties 
Spreads  his  light  wings  and  in  a  moment  flies. 

Should  at  my  feet  the  world's  great  master  fall, 
Himself,  his  throne,  his  world,  I'd  scorn  them  all. 
Not  Csesar's  empress  would  I  deign  to  prove; 
No,  make  me  mistress  to  the  man  I  love  ; 
If  there  be  yet  another  name  more  free, 
]\Iore  fond  than  mistress,  make  me  that  to  thee. 
Oh,  happy  state  !  when  souls  each  other  draw, 
When  love  is  liberty,  and  nature  law  ! 

In  vivid  words  Eloisa  depicts  the  mournful  solitude 
of  her  surroundings,  where — 

Black  Melancholy  sits,  and  round  her  throws 
A  death-like  silence  and  a  dread  repose  : 
Her  gloomy  presence  saddens  all  the  scene, 
Shades  every  flower,  and  darkens  every  green  ; 
Deepens  the  murmur  of  the  falling  floods, 
And  breathes  a  browner  horror  on  the  woods.^ 

'  A   striking   or  unusual   epithet   in  Pope's  work  is  frequently 
found   to  be  the  result  of  a  good  memory  rather  than  an  active 
imagination.     This  line  is  imitated  from  Dryden's — 
The  Trojans  from  the  main  beheld  a  wood, 
Which  thick  with  shades  and  a  brown  horror  stood. 


2o6  Mr,  Pope 

Yet  here,  at  her  lover's  desire,  she  will  stay,  till 
death  breaks  her  chain.  Here  she  will  play  the 
part  of  the  spouse  of  Christ,  though — 

Confessed  within  the  slave  of  God  and  man. 

In  chiselled  verse,  more  remarkable  for  brilliant 
antitheses  than  sincerity  of  feeling,  she  continues 
her  poetical  complaint  : 

Ev'n  here,  where  frozen  chastity  retires, 

Love  finds  an  altar  for  forbidden  fires. 

I  ought  to  grieve,  but  cannot  what  I  ought, 

I  mourn  the  lover,  not  lament  the  fault ; 

I  view  my  crime,  but  kindle  at  the  view  ; 

Repent  old  pleasures,  and  solicit  new  ; 

Now  turned  to  heaven,  I  weep  my  past  offence, 

Now  think  of  thee,  and  curse  my  innocence. 

Of  all  affliction  taught  a  lover  yet, 

'Tis  sure  the  hardest  science  to  forget. 

How  shall  I  lose  the  sin,  yet  keep  the  sense. 

And  love  the  offender,  yet  detest  the  offence  ? 

So  the  monodrama  goes  on,  the  conflict  between 
the  claims  of  a  sensual  love  and  a  sensuous  religion. 
Eloisa  looks  with  envy  on  the  blameless  vestal's  lot — 

The  world  forgetting,  by  the  world  forgot — 

and  compares  her  own  storm-tossed  soul  and  dreams 
of  earthly  love  with  "  the  eternal  sunshine  of  the 
spotless  mind."  Abelard's  image  steals  between  her 
and  her  God,  and  she  hears  his  voice  in  every  hymn. 
Even  at  High  Mass — 

One  thought  of  thee  puts  all  the  past  to  flight, 
Priests,  tapers,  temples,  swim  before  my  sight. 
In  seas  of  flame  my  plunging  soul  is  drowned. 
While  altars  blaze,  and  angels  tremble  round. 


a 


The  Epistle  of  Eloisa  to  Abelard^^    207 


One  moment  she  urges  Abelard  to  come  to  her, 
and — 

With  one  glance  of  those  deluding  eyes 
Blot  out  each  bright  idea  of  the  skies — 

while  the  next  she  implores  him  to  fly  from  her  as 
far  as  pole  from  pole — 

Rise,  Alps,  between  us  !  and  whole  oceans  roll ! 

From  the  neighbouring  tombs  she  hears  a  spirit- 
voice  that  calls  her  to  find  peace  and  calm  in  the 
eternal  sleep.  She  declares  herself  eager  and  ready 
to  depart,  and  only  pleads  that  Abelard  may  render 
her  the  last  sad  office  : 

Present  the  cross  before  my  lifted  eye, 
Teach  me  at  once,  and  learn  of  me,  to  die. 

Ardently  she  prays  that  their  hapless  names  may 
be  united  in  one  kind  grave,  and  then — 

If  ever  chance  two  wandering  lovers  brings 
To  Paraclete's  white  walls  and  silver  springs, 
O'er  the  pale  marble  shall  they  join  their  heads, 
And  drink  the  falling  tears  each  other  sheds  ; 
Then  sadly  say,  with  mutual  pity  moved, 
"  Oh,  may  we  never  love  as  these  have  loved  ! " 

The  poem  concludes  with  the  famous  eight  lines  ^ 
which  were  sent  to  both  Martha  Blount  and  LadyV 
Mary   Wortley.     Each    lady   was   bidden    to    apply 
the  meaning   to  herself ;   but,  whoever  inspired   the 
lines,  they  bear  evident  trace  of  having  been  written 
under  the  stress  of  strong  personal  feeling  : 

And,  sure,  if  fate  some  future  bard  shall  join 
In  sad  similitude  of  griefs  to  mine. 
Condemned  whole  years  in  absence  to  deplore 
And  image  charms  he  must  behold  no  more  ; 


2o8  Mr.  Pope 

Such,  if  there  be,  who  loves  so  long,  so  well, 
Let  him  our  sad,  our  tender  story  tell  ; 
The  well-sung  woes  will  soothe  my  pensive  ghost; 
He  best  can  paint  them  who  can  feel  them  most. 

Upon  none  of  Pope's  compositions  have  such 
lavish  praises  been  poured  out  as  upon  "  The  Epistle 
of  Eloisa  to  Abelard."  Critics  partial  and  critics 
impartial  have  vied  with  each  other  in  discovering 
new  phrases  of  appreciation.  Johnson  declared  that 
the  poet  had  left  nothing  behind  him  which  seemed 
more  the  effect  of  studious  perseverance  and  labori- 
ous revisal — a  verdict  which  was  intended  to  be 
more  flattering  than  it  sounds.  Byron  preferred  the 
Epistle  to  the  famous  "  Ode  "  of  Sappho.  Bowles 
thought  it  superior  to  any  of  the  classic  Epistles, 
including  those  of  Ovid,  Propertius,  and  Tibullus. 
In  fact,  it  was  generally  agreed  that  the  poem  was 
unequalled  for  pathos,  picturesqueness,  judicious 
contrasts,  dramatic  transitions,  the  glow  of  passion, 
and  the  musical  cadence  of  the  verse. 

It  is  always  interesting  to  hear  the  opinion  of 
foreign  critics  on  our  most  admired  compositions. 
That  anti-Pope,  Taine,  has  dealt  in  drastic  fashion 
with  poor  Eloisa.  Pope,  he  remarks,  has  endued 
the  unhappy  lady  with  wit  ;  in  his  hands  she 
becomes  an  academician,  and  her  Letter  is  a  re- 
pertory of  literary  effects.  She  bombards  Abelard 
with  portraits  and  descriptions,  declamation  and 
commonplace,  antitheses  and  contrasts.  Her  theme 
is  a  bravura  with  contrasts  of  forte  and  piano, 
variations  and  changes  of  key.  "  Now  it  is  a  happy 
image,  filling  up  a  whole  phrase  ;  now  a  series  of 
verses,  full  of  symmetrical  contrasts  ;  two  ordinary 


**The  Epistle  of  Eloisa  to  Abelard''    209 

words  set  in  relief  by  strange  conjunction  ;  an  imi- 
tative rhythm  completing  the  impression  of  the 
mind  by  the  emotion  of  the  senses  ;  the  most 
elegant  comparisons  and  the  most  picturesque 
epithets  ;  the  closest  style  and  the  most  ornate. 
Except  truth,  nothing  is  wanting.  Eloisa  is  worse 
than  a  singer — she  is  an  author  :  we  look  at  the 
back  of  her  '  Epistle  to  Abelard  '  to  see  if  she  has 
not  written  on  it,   '  For  Press.'  " 


VOL.     i  14 


CHAPTER  XX 

1717 

Social  Engagements — Country  Visits — Death  of 
the  Elder  Pope — Misunderstandings  with  the 
Blounts 

T  N  the  summer  of  this  year  Pope  describes  himself 

^      as  "  full  of  company  and  business  " — correcting 

the    Press,    revising    verses,    managing     subscribers, 

entertaining  Catholic  friends,  and  being  entertained 

by  "persons  of  quality."      He  sent  the  volume  of 

his  "  Works  "  to  Caryll,  but  refrained  from  saying  a 

word  about  it,  "  though  an  author  might  reasonably 

be  allowed  to  be  at  least  as  full  of  his  new  works  as 

a  lady  of  a  new  suit  of  clothes.     The  Preface  will  tell 

you  everything,  to  a  tittle,  what  I  think  about  them." 

Pope  proposed  to  make  a  visit  to  his  friends  at 

East  Grinstead  in  the  course  of  the  summer.     Patty 

Blount,  he  says,  has  a  hankering  after  her  godfather,^ 

and  has  advised  him  to  delay  his  visit  until  she  can 

make  hers.      The    Blounts    were   just   settling  into 

their  new  house  in  Bolton  Street,  but  Pope  thought 

that  London  at  that  season  was  scarcely  the  place  for 

Patty,    whose   health   was  never  very  strong.      The 

intimacy  between  the  poet  and  the  Blount  ladies  may 

be  gauged  from  the  fact  that  Pope  asked  Caryll  for 

^  Mr.  Caryll  was  Patty's  godfather. 
210 


Social  Engagements  211 

twelve  dozen  of  good  French  wine  whenever  a  hogs- 
head fell  into  his  hands/  but  explains  that  half  the 
quantity  is  for  Patty,  "  who  scorns  to  be  behindhand 
with  me  in  any  vicious  appetite  I  can  pretend  to — 
and  yet,  God  knows,  for  your  ghostly  comfort,  may 
be  a  saint  for  all  that." 

The  visit  to  East  Grinstead  was  indefinitely  post- 
poned, however,  for  Pope,  it  is  to  be  feared,  was 
beginning  to  look  down  on  his  untitled  country 
friends.  By  the  breaking  up  of  Parliament  half  his 
acquaintance  had  become  his  neighbours  on  the  banks 
of  the  Thames,  and  August  finds  him  still  at  Chiswick. 
He  has  been  dancing  attendance  on  Lord  Burlington, 
and  visiting  the  Dukes  of  Shrewsbury  and  Argyll, 
Lady  Rochester,  and  my  Lords  Percival  and 
Winchelsea,  to  say  nothing  of  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller, 
who  had  given  him  a  fine  picture.  "  All  these,"  he 
explains  to  Caryll,  "  have  indispensable  claims  to  me, 
under  penalty  of  the  imputation  of  direct  rudeness, 
living  within  two  hours'  sail  of  Chiswick." 

In  consequence  of  his  many  important  engage- 
ments, the  poet  was  unable  to  set  out  on  his  annual 
country  ramble  before  September.  On  the  13th  of 
that  month  he  wrote  to  the  Miss  Blounts  "  as  plain  a 
history  of  my  pilgrimage  as  Purchas  himself  could 
do."  In  the  first  place  he  had  gone  to  Hampton 
Court  by  water,  and  had  met  the  prince  and  all  his 
ladies  coming  home  from  hunting.     Mary  Bellenden  ^ 

^  Sussex  was  famous  for  its  contraband  commerce,  and  the 
landlords  sympathised  with  the  smugglers.  Pope  was  asking  for 
wine  that  had  paid  no  customs. 

^  Gay  calls  her  "Smiling  Mary,  soft  and  fair  as  down."  She 
was  a  daughter  of  John,  Lord  Bellenden,  and  married  Colonel 
Campbell,  afterwards  Duke  of  Argyll. 


2  12  Mr.  Pope 

and  Mary  LepelV  the  charming  if  flighty  maids-of- 
honour,  had  taken  him  under  their  protection  (con- 
trary to  the  law  against  harbouring  Papists)  and 
given  him  a  dinner,  which  was  followed  by  some- 
thing he  liked  much  better — the  opportunity  of  a 
conversation  with  Mrs.  Howard.^ 

"  We  all  agreed,"  he  continues,  "  that  the  life  of  a 
maid-of-honour  was  of  all  things  the  most  miserable, 
and  wished  that  every  woman  who  envied  it  had  a 
specimen  of  it.     To  eat  Westphalia  ham  in  a  morn- 
ing, ride  over  hedges  and  ditches  on  borrowed  hacks, 
come  home  in  the  heat  of  the  day  with  a  fever,  and 
(what  is  worse,  a  hundred  times)  with  a  red  mark  in 
the    forehead    from    an    uneasy    hat  ! — all  this  may 
qualify  them  to  make  excellent  wives  for  fox-hunters, 
and  bear  abundance  of  ruddy-complexioned  children. 
As  soon  as  they  can  wipe  off  the  sweat  of  the  day 
they  must  simper  an  hour,  and   catch  cold,  in  the 
princess's  apartments  ;   from  thence  (as  Shakespeare 
has  it)  to  dinner^  with  what  appetite  they  may — and 
after  that,  till  midnight,  walk,  work,  or  think,  which 
they  please.     I  can  easily  believe  no  lone  house  in 
Wales,  with  a  mountain  and  a  rookery,  is  more  con- 
templative than  this  Court  ;  and,  as  a  proof  of  it,  I 
need   only  tell  you   Mrs.   L[epell]   walked  with   me 
three  or  four  hours  by  moonlight,  and  we  met  no 
creature    of   any   quality    but    the    king,    who   gave 
audience  to  the  Vice -Chamberlain   all   alone,  under 
the  garden-wall."  ^ 

^  Afterwards  married  to  John,  Lord  Hervey. 

2  Nominally  bed-chamber  woman  to  the  Princess  of  Wales,  but 
generally  believed  to  be  the  mistress  of  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
She  became  Countess  of  Suffolk  in  1731. 

'  Pope  sent  much  the   same  account  to  Lady  Mary  Wortley 


Country  Visits  213 

The  poet  then  proceeded  on  a  round  of  country- 
house  visits.  He  stayed  with  Lord  Harcourt  and 
Lord  Bathurst,  among  others,  spent  a  night  at 
Blenheim,  and  passed  some  days  at  Oxford.  At 
Lord  Harcourt's  he  met  a  beautiful  Mrs.  Jennings, 
who  is  described  as  "  nearer  to  an  angel  than  a 
woman."  At  any  rate,  she  was  charming  enough  to 
be  a  credit  to  the  Maker  of  angels.  On  the  terrestrial 
plane,  however,  she  was  only  a  poor  relation  of  Lord 
Harcourt's,  who  solemnly  proposed  that  Pope  should 
marry  her,  evidently  thinking  that  a  deformed  poet, 
with  a  small  but  certain  income,  would  be  a  fair 
match  for  a  penniless  beauty.  "  I  told  him,"  says 
Pope,  who  was  always  frank  about  his  personal 
defects,  "that  it  was  what  he  never  could  have  thought 
of,  if  it  had  not  been  his  misfortune  to  be  blind,  and 
what  1  never  could  think  of,  while  I  had  eyes  to  see 
both  her  and  myself." 

A  visit  to  Oxford  was  always  a  delight  to  the 
poet,  who  probably  never  felt  the  disabilities  of  his 
reHgion  so  keenly  as  in  the  old  halls  and  shady 
gardens  of  the  University.  There  is  no  prettier  bit 
of  word-painting  in  all  his  correspondence  than  the 
passage  in  which  he  describes  (to  Martha  Blount) 
his  ride  through  the  shades  of  an  autumn  evening 
from  Windsor  Forest  to  Oxford,  and  nearly  every 
syllable  rings  true  : 

"  Nothing    could    have  more  of  that  melancholy 

which  once    used  to  please  me  than  my  last  day's 

Montagu  in  17 18,  after  the  quarrel  between  the  two  Courts.  He 
then  says  :  "  I  walked  there  [Hampton  Court]  the  other  day  by 
the  moon,  and  met  no  creature  of  any  quality  but  the  king,  who 
was  giving  audience  all  alone  to  the  birds  under  the  garden- 
wall." 


2  14  Mr.  Pope 

journey  ;  for,  after  having  passed  through  my 
favourite  woods  in  the  Forest,  with  a  thousand 
reveries  of  past  pleasures,  I  rid  over  hanging  hills, 
whose  tops  were  edged  with  groves  and  whose 
feet  were  watered  with  winding  rivers,  listening 
to  the  fall  of  cataracts  below,  and  the  murmuring 
of  the  winds  above.  The  gloomy  verdure  of  the 
Stonor  succeeded  to  these  ;  and  then  the  shades 
of  evenins:  overtook  me.  The  moon  rose  in  the 
clearest  sky  I  ever  saw,  by  whose  solemn  light  I 
paced  on  slowly,  without  company,  or  any  interrup- 
tion to  the  range  of  my  thoughts.  About  a  mile 
before  I  reached  Oxford,  all  the  bells  tolled  in  differ- 
ent notes  ;  the  clocks  of  every  college  answered  one 
another  and  sounded  forth  (some  in  deeper,  some  in 
softer  tone)  that  it  was  eleven  at  night.  All  this 
was  no  ill  preparation  to  the  life  I  have  led  since, 
among  those  old  walls,  venerable  galleries,  stone 
porticos,  studious  walks,  and  solitary  scenes  of  the 
University.  I  wanted  nothing  but  a  black  gown  and 
a  salary  to  be  as  mere  a  bookworm  as  any  there.  1 
conformed  myself  to  the  college  hours,  was  rolled  up 
in  books,  lay  in  one  of  the  most  ancient,  dusky  parts 
of  the  University,  and  was  as  dead  to  the  world  as  any 
hermit  of  the  desert.  If  anything  was  alive  or 
awake  in  me  it  was  a  little  vanity,  such  as  even 
those  good  men  used  to  entertain  when  the  monks  ' 
of  their  own  order  extolled  their  piety  and  abstrac- 
tion. For  I  found  myself  received  with  a  sort  of 
respect,  which  this  idle  part  of  mankind,  the  learned, 
pay  to  their  own  species  ;  who  are  as  considerable 
here  as  the  busy,  the  gay,  and  the  ambitious  are  in 
your  world." 


Death  of  the  Elder  Pope  215 

Pope  was  back  in  town  by  October  5,  and  still 
holding  out  hopes  that  he  would  pay  the  long- 
promised  visit  to  the  Carylls.  It  is  not  likely,  how- 
ever, that  he  again  left  home,  for  on  October  23  his 
father  died  suddenly.^  The  next  morning  the  poet 
wrote  to  Martha  Blount,  to  whom,  rather  than  to 
Teresa,  he  turned  in  his  affliction  :  "  My  poor 
father  died  last  night.  Believe,  since  I  do  not  for- 
get you  this  moment,  I  never  shall." 

Martha  replied  in  no  less  brief  and  simple  fashion  : 
— "  My  sister  and  I  shall  be  at  home  all  day.  If 
any  company  comes  that  you  don't  like,  I'll  go 
up  into  my  room  with  you.     I   hope  we  shall  see 

you. 

On  the  28th  Pope  wrote  to  inform  Caryll  of  his 
bereavement.  His  father's  death,  he  says,  was 
the  happiest  imaginable,^  but  he  himself  had  lost 
one  to  whom  he  was  even  more  obliged  as  a  friend 
than  as  a  father.  "  My  poor  mother,"  he  adds,  "  is 
so  afflicted  that  it  would  be  barbarity  to  leave  her 
this  winter,  which  is  the  true  reason  that  1  am  not 
now  at  Ladyholt." 

The  loss  of  his  father  made  little  real  difference  in 
Pope's  fortunes  or  way  of  life.  For  a  time,  at  least, 
to  quote  his  own  words,  he  would  be  less  of  a  poet, 
though  not,  he  hoped,  less  of  a  gentleman.  He 
was  left,  he  declared,  to  the  management  of  so 
narrow  a  fortune  that  any  one  false  step  would  be 
fatal.     This   was   rather  an   exaggerated   account  of 

^  Mr.  Pope  was  in  his  seventy-sixth  year. 
2  His  life,  though  long,  to  sickness  passed  unknown, 
His  death  was  instant,  and  without  a  groan. 

Epistle  to  Dr.  Arbuthnot. 


2i6  Mr.  Pope 

the  situation.  Pope  the  elder  left  several  thousand 
pounds,  carefully  invested  in  French  securities,  which, 
with  the  interest  of  the  sums  paid  for  the  "  Iliad," 
brought  in  an  income  of  six  or  seven  hundred  a 
year.  Pope  had  no  extravagant  tastes,  he  was  not 
likely  to  marry,  and  there  seemed  no  reason  why 
he  and  his  mother  should  make  any  change  in 
their  prudent  though  comfortable  manner  of  living. 

The  Bishop  of  Rochester,  however,  thought  that 
the  poet  might  now  improve  his  position  by  changing 
his  faith.  In  his  letter  of  condolence  Atterbury 
rather  crudely  suggests  that,  "  When  you  have  paid 
the  debt  of  tenderness  you  owe  to  the  memory  of 
a  father,  I  doubt  not  but  you  will  turn  your  thoughts 
towards  improving  that  accident  to  your  own  ease 
and  happiness.  You  have  it  now  in  your  power 
to  pursue  that  method  of  thinking  and  living  which 
vou  like  best." 

Pope,  though  never  an  orthodox  son  of  Holy 
Church,  was  rather  shocked  at  the  cool  cynicism  of 
the  bishop's  suggestion.  He  wrote  an  excellent 
letter  in  reply,  in  which  he  gave  a  summary  of  his 
principles,  political  and  religious.  With  the  death 
of  his  father  he  had  not  lost  the  only  tie  that  bound 
him  to  the  old  religion.  "  I  thank  God  another 
still  remains  (and  long  may  it  remain)  of  the  same 
tender  nature.  ...  A  rigid  divine  may  call  it  a 
carnal  tie  ;  but  sure  it  is  a  virtuous  one.  At  least 
I  am  more  certain  that  it  is  a  duty  of  nature  to 
preserve  a  good  parent's  life  and  happiness  than 
I  am  of  any  speculative  point  whatever.  .  .  .  For 
she,  my  lord,  would  think  this  separation  more 
grievous  than  any  other,  and  I,  for  my  part,  know 


Misunderstandings  with  the  Blounts     217 

as  little  as  poor  Euryalus  did  of  the  success  of  such 
an  adventure." 

Although  he  cannot  tell  whether  the  change 
would  be  to  his  spiritual  advantage,  he  fully  admits 
that,  on  the  temporal  side,  the  arguments  are  all  with 
the  bishop ;  but  even  if  he  possessed  the  talents  for 
an  active  career,  he  lacked  the  health  for  it,  and 
was  convinced  that  a  contemplative  life  was  the 
only  one  for  which  he  was  really  fitted.  As  for 
his  political  and  religious  sentiments,  he  only  desires 
to  preserve  the  peace  of  his  life  in  any  Government 
under  which  he  lives,  and  the  peace  of  his  conscience 
in  any  church  with  which  he  communicates.  "  I 
am  not  a  Papist,"  he  explains  with  unusual  candour, 
"  for  I  renounce  the  temporal  invasions  of  the  papal 
power,  and  detest  their  arrogated  authority  over 
princes  and  states.  I  am  a  Catholic  in  the  strictest 
sense  of  the  word.  ...  I  have  a  due  sense  of  the 
excellence  of  the  British  Constitution.  In  a  word, 
the  things  I  have  always  wished  to  see  are  not 
a  Roman  Catholic,  or  a  French  Catholic,  but  a 
true  Catholic  ;  not  a  king  of  Whigs  or  a  king 
of  Tories,  but  a  king  of  England,  which  God  in 
His  mercy  grant  his  present  majesty  may  be,  and 
all  future  majesties." 

At  the  end  of  this  year  some  mysterious  trouble 
arose  between  Pope  and  his  old  friends,  the  Blounts. 
As  far  as  can  be  gathered  from  the  correspondence, 
the  sisters  had  somehow  contrived  to  wound  the 
sensitive  feelings  of  the  poet.  Apparently  he 
thought  himself  less  welcome  than  formerly,  and  it 
may  be  that  he  found  less  sympathy  than  he  expected 
during    his  time  of   mourning.     Again,  he  felt,  or 


21 8  Mr.  Pope 

professed  to  feel,  too  warmly  towards  one  of  the 
sisters  to  bear  with  philosophy  being  treated  as  a 
mere  friendly  acquaintance.  Injured  feeling,  or 
possibly  wounded  vanity,  is  the  key-note  of  a  letter 
addressed  "  To  the  Young  Ladies  of  Bolton  Street." 
He  begins  by  informing  them  that  he  no  longer 
intends  to  be  a  constant  companion,  since  he  has 
ceased  to  be  an  agreeable  one.  They,  as  his  friends, 
have  had  the  privilege  of  knowing  his  unhappiness, 
and  are  therefore  the  only  people  whom  his 
company  must  make  melancholy.  He  feels  that  he 
comes  across  their  diversions  like  a  skeleton,  and 
dashes  their  pleasures.  "  Nothing  can  be  more 
shocking  than  to  be  perpetually  meeting  the  ghost 
of  an  old  acquaintance,  which  is  all  you  can  ever  see 
of  me," 

The  sisters  are  not  to  imagine,  however,  that 
his  absence  proceeds  from  any  decrease  of  friend- 
ship. If  they  had  any  love  for  him  he  would  always 
be  glad  to  gratify  them  with  an  object  that  they 
thought  agreeable,  but  feelings  of  mere  friendship 
and  esteem  may  be  as  well,  or  better,  preserved  at 
a  distance.  "  And,  you  may  depend  upon  it,  I  will 
wait  upon  you  on  every  occasion  at  the  first  summons 
as  long  as  I  live.  I  have  sometimes  found  myself 
inclined  to  be  in  love  with  you,  and,  as  I  have  reason 
to  know,  from  your  temper  and  conduct,  how 
miserably  I  should  be  used  in  that  circumstance,  it  is 
worth  my  while  to  avoid  it.  It  is  enough  to  be 
disagreeable  without  adding  food  to  it  by  constant 
slavery.  I  have  heard,  indeed,  of  women  that  have 
had  a  kindness  for  men  of  my  make.  ...  I  love 
you  so  well  that  I   tell  you  the  truth,  and  that  has 


Misunderstandings  with  the  Blounts     219 

made  me  write  this  letter.  I  will  see  you  less 
frequently  this  winter,  as  you'll  less  want  company. 
When  the  gay  part  of  the  world  is  gone,  I'll  be 
ready  to  stop  the  gap  of  a  vacant  hour  whenever  you 
please.  Till  then  I'll  converse  with  those  who  are 
more  indifferent  to  me,  as  you  will  with  those  who 
are  more  entertaining.  I  wish  you  every  pleasure 
God  and  man  can  pour  upon  ye  ;  and  I  faithfully 
promise  you  all  the  good  I  can  do,  which  is  the 
service  of  a  friend  who  will  ever  be,  ladies,  entirely 
yours." 


CHAPTER    XXI 

1718 

Quarrel   with   the   Blounts — Stanton   Harcourt 
— Fate  of  the  Rustic  Lovers 

FOR  some  time  after  his  father's  death  Pope 
retired  from  the  "  great  world."  He  describes 
himself  as  living  in  a  deep  desert  solitude,  immersed 
in  books,  and  seeing  no  company  beyond  his  own 
family,  for  a  week  at  a  time.  He  is  sick  of  the 
vanities  of  the  town,  and  had  taken  his  last  leave 
of  impertinence  at  a  masquerade — the  true  epitome 
of  all  absurdities — some  time  before.  "  I  was  led 
thither,  as  one  is  to  all  foolish  things — by  keeping 
foolish  company  ;  after  saying  which  it  would  be 
unmannerly  to  add,  it  was  that  of  a  great  person. 
But  of  late  the  great  have  been  the  shining  examples 
of  folly,  public  and  private,  and  the  best  translation 
at  this  time  of  "  O  tempora  !  O  mores  !  "  would  be 
"  O   kings  !      O  princes  !  " 

His  low  spirits  and  aversion  to  society  at  this 
period  may  have  been  partly  owing  to  his  strained 
relations  with  the  Blounts.  The  chief  quarrel  was 
with  the  once-favoured  Teresa,  whom  he  had  been 
assisting  in  some  financial  speculations — always  a 
delicate  and  dangerous  service.     At  the   same  time 

220 


Quarrel  with  the  Blounts  221 

he  seems  to  have  been  thinking  seriously  of  marriage, 
and  to  have  asked  Teresa,  in  confidence,  whether  she 
thought  that  he  had  a  chance  with  Patty.  Teresa, 
who,  for  some  reason  or  other,  was  annoyed  at  his 
offer  of  financial  assistance,  appears  to  have  betrayed 
his  confidence  and  misrepresented  his  intentions  to 
her  sister.  The  following  letter  to  Teresa,  dated 
February  21,  gives  some  account  of  the  afi^air, 
which  remains,  however,  as  regards  the  details,  one 
of  the  petty  mysteries  of  Pope's  life  : 

"  I  desire  to  know,"  he  begins  abruptly,  "  what  is 
your  meaning,  to  resent  my  complying  with  your 
request  and  endeavouring  to  serve  you  in  the  way 
you  proposed,  as  if  I  had  done  you  some  great 
injury?  You  told  me,  if  such  a  thing  was  the 
secret  of  my  heart,  you  should  entirely  forgive  and 
think  well  of  me.  1  told  it,  and  find  the  contrary. 
You  pretended  so  much  generosity  as  to  offer  your 
service  in  my  behalf.  The  minute  after  you  did  me 
as  ill  an  office  as  you  could,  in  telling  the  party 
concerned  it  was  all  but  an  amusement,  occasioned 
by   my   loss  of  another   lady. 

"You  express  yourself  desirous  of  increasing  your 
present  income  upon  life.  1  proposed  the  only 
method  I  then  could  find,  and  you  encouraged  me 
to  proceed  in  it.  When  it  was  done,  you  received  it 
as  if  it  were  an  affront,  since,  when  I  find  the  very 
thing  in  the  very  manner  you  wished,  and  mention 
it  to  you,  you  do  not  think  it  worth  an  answer. 

"  If  your  meaning  be  that  the  very  things  you  ask 
and  wish  become  odious  to  you  when  it  is  I  that 
comply  with  them,  or  bring  them  about,  pray  own 
it,  and  deceive  me  no  longer  with  any  thought  but 


222  Mr.  Pope 

that  you  hate  me.  My  friendship  Is  too  warm  and 
sincere  to  be  trifled  with  ;  therefore,  if  you  have  any 
meaning,  tell  it  me,  or  you  must  allow  me  to  take 
away  that  which  perhaps  you  do  not  care  to 
keep." 

The  next  move  in  this  curious  affair  was  that 
on  March  lo,  171 8,  Pope  executed  a  deed  by  which 
he  settled  an  annuity  of  forty  pounds  a  year  for 
six  years  on  Teresa,  on  condition  that  she  should  not 
be  married  during  that  period.  It  has  been  taken 
for  granted  by  Pope's  biographers  that  he  paid  the 
annuity  out  of  his  pocket,  but  it  is  hardly  credible 
that  a  girl  of  Teresa's  social  standing  would  accept 
an  allowance  from  a  man  who  was  not  related  to 
her.  It  seems  much  more  likely  that  the  annuity 
was  paid  as  interest  on  some  capital  that  she  had 
invested  in  one  of  their  joint  speculations.^  In  the 
case  of  her  marriage,  the  arrangement  would  naturally 
come  to  an  end,  since  her  little  fortune  would  pass 
into  the  possession   of  her   husband. 

The  quarrel  resulted  in  a  temporary  breach  be- 
tween Chiswick  and  Bolton  Street.  But  the  sisters 
must  have  missed  their  poetical  friend,  for  it  was 
not  long  before  they  begged  him  to  resume  his 
visits  on  the  old  footing.  His  answer  is  full  of 
wounded  feeling,  and  there  are  few  letters  in  his 
correspondence  more  sincere  in  tone. 

"Ladies,"  he  begins,  "pray  think  me  sensible  of 
your  civility  and  good  meaning  in  asking  me  to 
come  to  you.      You  will  please  to  consider  that  my 

*  For  example,  it  appears  that  in  17 16  Pope  had  speculated  for 
himself  and  the  Blounts  in  lottery  tickets,  which  were  payable  in 
annuities. 


From  an  original  paintintj. 

MARTHA   AND   TERESA   BLOUNT. 


Quarrel  with  the  Blounts  223 

coming  or  not  is  a  thing  indifferent  to  both  of 
you.  But  God  knows  it  is  far  otherwise  with  me  in 
respect  to  one  of  you. 

"  I  scarce  ever  come  but  one  of  two  things  happens, 
which  equally  affect  me  to  the  soul  :  either  I  make 
her  uneasy,  or  I  see  her  unkind. 

"  If  she  has  any  tenderness,  I  can  only  give  her 
every  day  trouble  and  melancholy.  If  she  has  none, 
the  daily  sight  of  so  undeserved  a  coldness  must 
wound  me  to  the  quick. 

"It  is  forcing  one  of  us  to  do  a  very  hard  and 
unjust  thing  to  the  other.  My  continuing  to  see  you 
will,  by  turns,  tease  all  of  us.  My  staying  away  can, 
at  worst,  be  of  ill  consequence  only  to  myself. 

"  And  if  one  of  us  is  to  be  sacrificed,  I  believe  we 
are  all  three  agreed  who  shall  be  the  person." 

Though  the  quarrel  was  soon  made  up,  and  Pope 
renewed  his  friendly  relations  with  the  sisters,  it  is 
probable  that  he  never  quite  forgave  Teresa,  and  ten 
years  later  the  grudge  he  bore  her  burst  out  into 
open  enmity. 

Meanwhile,  through  all  these  lovers'  squabbles,  the  " 
poet  had  kept  up  his  gallant  correspondence  with 
Lady  Mary  Wortley.  In  the  autumn  of  1717 
Mr.  Wortley  had  been  recalled  from  Constantinople, 
though  he  did  not  actually  return  to  England  till 
October  171  8.  On  hearing  the  news  of  the  recall, 
Pope  wrote  to  Lady  Mary  to  express  his  delight 
that  fortune  was  about  to  return  to  her  friends  the 
most  precious  thing  of  which  it  had  ever  robbed 
them.  In  fact,  her  presence  would  be  the  only 
equivalent  for  Mr.  Pitt's  famous  diamond,  which 
had  just  been  bought  for  the  young  King  of  France. 


224  Mr.  Pope 

Pope  had  commissioned  Lady  Mary  to  bring  over 
a  fair  Circassian  slave,  who  was  to  resemble  her 
ladyship  as  nearly  as  possible,  though  with  the 
colours  a  little  less  vivid,  and  the  eyes  a  little  less 
bright  ;  otherwise,  instead  of  being  her  master,  he 
would  only  be  her  slave.  He  was  eager  to  know 
whether  the  Wortleys  intended  coming  home  through 
Italy,  for  in  that  case  he  would  meet  them  there, 
and  travel  back  with  them.  "Allow  me  but  to 
sneak  after  you  in  your  train,  to  fill  my  pockets 
with  coins,  or  to  lug  an  old  busto  behind  you,  and  I 
shall  be  proud  beyond  expression.  Let  people  think, 
if  they  will,  that  I  did  all  this  for  the  pleasure  of 
treading  on  classic  ground  ; '  I  would  whisper  other 
,  reasons  in  your   ear." 

In  the  spring  of  1718  Pope  suffered  from  one  of 
his  periodical  attacks  ot  severe  illness.  In  a  brief 
letter  to  Lady  Mary  he  explains  that,  in  writing  to 
her,  he  is  disobeying  a  despotic  doctor — probably 
Arbuthnot — who  has  ordered  him  to  think  but 
slightly  of  anything.  He  is  practising  whether  he 
can  so  think  of  her,  for  then  he  might  look  upon 
the  sun  as  a  spangle  and  the  world  as  a  walnut.  "  I 
cannot  express  to  you,"  he  continues,  with  an  ardour 
that  may  have  been  heightened  by  his  annoyance 
with  the  Blounts,  "  how  I  long  to  see  you  face  to 
face  ;  if  ever  you  come  again  I  shall  never  be  able 
to  behave  with  decency  :  I  shall  walk,  look,  and  talk 
at  such  a  rate  that  all  the  town  must  know  I  have 
seen  something  more  than  human.  Come,  for  God's 
sake,  come.  Lady  Mary  ;  come  quickly  !  " 

In    July    Pope    accepted    the    invitation   of  Lord 
Harcourt  to  spend  a  quiet  month  at  an  old  house  at 


Stanton  Harcourt  225 

Stanton  Harcourt,^  in  Oxfordshire,  where  he  hoped 
to  recruit  his  health  and  finish  the  fifth  volume  of 
Homer.  By  what  he  called  a  coup  de  maitre^  he 
persuaded  his  old  mother  to  accompany  him  to 
Stanton  Harcourt.  For  the  latter  part  of  the  summer 
Lord  Bathurst  put  his  splendid  house  at  Ciren- 
cester at  the  poet's  disposal,  as  he  himself  was  unable 
to  come  down  before  Michaelmas.  Meanwhile,  the 
Miss  Blounts  were  awaiting  their  annual  summer 
invitation  to  East  Grinstead,  where  Pope  usually 
contrived  to  join  them.  But  by  August  6  the 
invitation  had  not  arrived,  and  Pope  wrote  to  Patty 
from  Stanton  Harcourt  : 

"  I  would  give  the  world  if  you  had  the  courage, 
both  of  you,  to  pass  the  fortnight  in  and  about  my 
wood  [at  Cirencester].  I  would  secure  you  of  a 
good  house,  within  an  hour  of  it,  and  a  daily  enter- 
tainment in  it.  I  go  thither  very  speedily.  I  am 
sure  of  your  sister,  at  least,  that  she  would  do  this, 
or  anything  else,  if  she  had  a  mind  to  it.  .  .  ,  My 
mother,  Gay,  and  I  will  meet  you,  and  show  you 
Blenheim  by  the  way.  I  dare  believe  Mrs.  Blount 
would  not  stick  out  at  my  request.  And  so,  damn 
Grinstead  and  all  its  works." 

This  same  letter  contains  a  long  and  picturesque 

account  of  the  melancholy  fate  of  two  rustic  lovers 

who  were  killed  by  lightning  during  Pope's  stay  at 

Stanton  Harcourt.     So  powerfully  did  the  incident 

impress  the  poet's  mind  that  he  sent  versions  of  the 

^  The  house,  which  was  near  Lord  Harcourt's  place  at  Cole- 
thorpe,  was  a  half-furnished,  ramshackle  old  place.  Pope  wrote 
a  semi-fictitious  account  of  it  to  Lady  Mary  Wortley,  in  a  style 
evidently  modelled  upon  some  of  Addison's  papers  in  The  Spec- 
tator. 

VOL.    I  If 


226  Mr,  Pope 

same  story  to  several  of  his  friends,  including  Lady 
Mary  Wortley,  Caryll,  Lord  Bathurst,  and  Atterbury. 

On  the  last  day  of  July — so  the  story  runs — 
two  young  lovers,  John  Hewet  and  Sarah  Drew, 
were  working  in  the  harvest-field  ^  when  a  great 
storm  broke.  John  raked  together  some  sheaves  of 
wheat,  behind  which  the  lovers  crouched  for  pro- 
tection. Presently  there  came  so  loud  a  crack  that 
heaven  itself  seemed  rent  asunder.  As  soon  as  the 
first  terror  was  over  the  labourers  shouted  to  one 
another,  and  those  that  were  nearest  the  lovers, 
hearing  no  sound,  went  to  the  place  where  they  lay. 
"  They  first  saw  a  little  smoke,  and  after,  this 
faithful  pair  ;  John  with  one  arm  about  his  Sarah's 
neck,  and  the  other  held  over  her  face  as  if  to  screen 
her  from  the  hghtning.  They  were  struck  dead,  and 
already  grown  stiff  and  cold  in  this  tender  posture." 

The  village  people  thought  that  this  sudden  death 
must  be  a  judgment  for  sin,  and  were  ready  to 
rise  against  the  minister  for  allowing  the  couple 
Christian  burial  in  one  grave.  Pope  thereupon  per- 
suaded Lord  Harcourt  to  erect  a  little  monument 
over  the  lovers,  and  himself  wrote  a  couple  of 
epitaphs."     The  first  was  considered   too    recondite 

*  In  the  account  sent  to  Lady  Mary  the  lovers  were  haymakers, 
who  sheltered  behind  haycocks.     As  the  incident  is  reported  as 
having  taken  place  on  the  last  day  of  July,  it  might  be  thought 
that  the  "  haysel "  would  be  over  and  the  harvest  not  yet  begun. 
'  The  two  epitaphs  are  subjoined  : 

I. 
When  Eastern  lovers  feed  the  funeral  fire, 
On  the  same  pile  the  faithful  fair  expire  ; 
Here  pitying  Heaven  that  virtue  mutual  found, 
And  blasted  both,  that  it  might  neither  wound. 
Hearts  so  sincere  th'  Almighty  saw  well  pleased, 
Sent  His  own  lightning,  and  the  victims  seized. 


Fate  of  the  Rustic  Lovers  227 

for  the  country  people,  and  the  second,  the 
"  religious "  one,  was  adopted.  Truth  to  say, 
neither  is  an  inspired  piece  of  work,  and  perhaps  it 
was  the  ornate  manner  in  which  the  incident  was 
recounted  and  the  bald  platitudes  of  the  accompany- 
ing verses  that  moved  Lady  Mary  to  merriment  and 
parody  in  her  letter  of  acknowledgment.  Pope  had 
pompously  assured  her  that  "  the  greatest  honour 
people  of  this  low  degree  could  have  was  to  be 
remembered  on  a  little  monument  ;  unless  you  will 
give  them  another — that  of  being  honoured  with  a 
tear  from  the  finest  eyes  in  the  world.  I  know  you 
have  tenderness  ;  you  must  have  it  ;  it  is  the  very 
emanation  of  good  sense  and  virtue  ;  the  finest  minds, 
like  the  finest  metals,  dissolve  the  readiest." 

Lady  Mary  was  in  a  capricious  mood  when  she 
sat  down  to  answer  this  letter.  Having  no  illusions 
about  hay-makers  or  their  methods  of  courtship,  she 
tore  away  the  web  of  sentiment  that  the  poet  had 
woven  around  the  rustic  tragedy.  She  did  not 
imagine  that  the  lovers  were  either  wiser  or  more 
virtuous  than  their  neighbours.  Nor  did  she 
suppose  for  a  moment  that  their  sudden  death  was 
a  reward  of  their  mutual  virtue,  as  Pope  suggested 

II. 

Think  not,  by  rigorous  judgment  seized, 
A  pair  so  faithful  could  expire  ; 
Victims  so  pure  Heaven  saw  well  pleased, 
And  snatched  them  in  celestial  fire. 

Live  well,  and  fear  no  sudden  fate. 

When  God  calls  virtue  to  the  grave 
Alike  His  justice  soon  or  late  : 

Mercy  alike  to  kill  or  save. 
Virtue  unmoved  can  hear  the  call, 
And  face  the  flash  that  melts  the  ball. 


228  Mr.  Pope 

in  his  epitaph.  Her  own  mock-epitaph  is  a  scathing 
satire  upon  the  sentimental  vapourings  of  Pope,  and 
is  certainly  better  worth  printing  than  his  own 
effusions  : 

Here  lie  John  Hughes  ^  and  Sarah  Drew  ; 
Perhaps  you'll  say,  what's  that  to  you  ? 
Believe  me,  friend,  much  may  be  said 
On  that  poor  couple  that  are  dead. 
On  Sunday  next  they  should  have  married  : 
But  see  how  oddly  things  are  carried  ; 
On  Thursday  last  it  rained  and  lightened, 
These  tender  lovers,  sadly  frightened, 
Sheltered  beneath  the  cocking  hay 
In  hopes  to  pass  the  time  away. 
But  the  bold  thunder  found  them  out 
(Commissioned  for  that  end,  no  doubt), 
And,  seizing  on  their  trembling  breath, 
Consigned  them  to  the  shades  of  death. 
Who  knows  if  'twas  not  kindly  done  ? 
For,  had  they  seen  the  next  year's  sun, 
A  beaten  wife  and  cuckold  swain 
Had  jointly  cursed  the  marriage  chain. 
Now  they  are  happy  in  their  doom, 
For  Pope  has  wrote  upon  their  tomb. 

At  Stanton  Harcourt  Pope  finished  his  fifth  volume 
of  Homer,  as  was  recorded  on  a  window-pane  of 
the  room  in  which  he  worked.  He  was  now  near- 
ing  the  end  of  his  gigantic  task,  and  found,  to  his 
satisfaction,  "  that  daring  work  less  and  less  censured, 
and  the  last  volumes  generally  allowed  to  be  better 
done  than  the  former,  which  yet  no  way  raises  my 
vanity,  since  it  is  only  allowing  me  not  to  grow 
worse  and  worse." 

On  October  8  Pope  was  enjoying  what  he  calls 

'  Lady  Mary  has  altered  the  name  of  the  hero,  in  order  to  make 
her  line  scan. 


At  Cirencester  229 

his  "  bower  "  in  Oakley  Wood,  Cirencester,  and  the 
company  of  Lord  Bathurst  ^  and  Gay.  In  a  letter 
to  the  Blounts  he  gives  a  rosy  account  of  his  sur- 
roundings and  mode  of  life. 

"I  write  an  hour  or  two  every  morning,  then  ride 
out  a-hunting  upon  the  Downs,  eat  heartily,  talk 
tender  sentiments  with  Lord  Bathurst,  or  draw  plans 
for  houses  and  gardens,  open  avenues,  cut  glades, 
plant  firs,  contrive  water-works — all  very  fine  and 
beautiful  in  our  imagination.  At  night  we  play  at 
commerce,  and  play  pretty  high.  I  do  more  :  I  bet 
too  ;  for  I  am  really  rich,  and  must  throw  away  my 
money,  if  no  deserving  friend  will  use  it.  I  like  this 
course  of  life  so  well  that  I  am  resolved  to  stay  here 
till  I  hear  of  somebody's  being  in  town  that  is  worth 
coming  after." 

^  Allen,  Lord  Bathurst  (1684-1775),  was  a  pleasant  companion 
and  an  ideal  host.  He  was  one  of  the  dozen  Peace  peers,  created 
in  171 1,  to  form  a  Tory  majority  in  the  House  of  Lords.  He  made 
no  great  figure  in  politics,  but  enjoyed  life,  and  helped  his  friends 
and  guests  to  do  the  same.  Lord  Lansdowne  said  of  him  (in  a 
letter  to  Mrs.  Pendarves)  :  "  Lord  Bathurst  can  best  describe  to 
you  the  ineffable  joys  of  that  country  where  happiness  only  reigns. 
He  is  a  native  of  it."  Bathurst  had  a  strong  constitution  and 
abounding  vitality.  In  his  old  age  Sterne  said  of  him  :  "  This 
nobleman  is  a  prodigy  ;  for  at  eighty-five  he  has  all  the  wit  and 
promptness  of  a  man  of  thirty.  A  disposition  to  be  pleased,  and 
the  power  to  please  others  beyond  whatever  I  knew,  added  to 
which  a  man  of  learning,  courtesy,  and  feeling."  Sterne  also 
relates  the  following  story  of  him  :  "  About  two  years  before  his 
death,  having  some  friends  with  him  at  his  country-seat,  and 
being  loth  to  part  with  them  one  night,  his  son,  the  Lord  Chan- 
cellor, objected  to  sitting  up  any  longer,  and  left  the  room.  As 
soon  as  he  was  gone  the  lively  old  peer  said,  '  Come,  my  good 
friends,  since  the  old  gentleman  is  gone  to  bed,  I  think  we  may 
venture  to  crack  another  bottle.'" 


CHAPTER   XXII 

1719 

Move  to  Twickenham — Relations  with  Lady 
Mary  Wortley  Montagu — Theories  of 
Gardening 

MAWSON'S  New  Buildings  was  but  a  shabby 
address  for  a  celebrated  poet,  and  in  the 
spring  of  this  year  Pope  thought  of  building  himself 
a  house  in  or  near  London.  But  from  this  project 
he  was  dissuaded  by  his  friends,  more  especially  by 
Lord  Bathurst,  who  warned  him  that  saws  and 
hammers,  besides  making  a  good  deal  of  noise, 
possessed  a  curious  trick  of  melting  gold  and  silver. 
Finally,  the  poet  contented  himself  with  renting  a 
small  house  at  Twickenham,  with  five  acres  of  land, 
which  he  proceeded  to  beautify  in  accordance  with 
his  own  artistic  taste.  The  house  was  pleasantly 
situated  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  the  village  of 
Twickenham  was  then  the  most  fashionable  country 
retreat  within  easy  reach  of  London. 

Pope  intended  to  add  to  the  house,  but,  fortunately 
for  his  purse,  he  never  got  beyond  scribbling  plans  on 
the  backs  of  envelopes.  He  found  endless  amuse- 
ment, however,  in  laying  out  his  grounds.  His 
taste  and  knowledge,  more  especially  with  regard  to 

230 


Move  to  Twickenham  231 

effects  of  light  and  shade,  distance  and  grouping, 
were  in  advance  of  his  time,  and  his  advice  was 
sought  by  the  great  men  of  his  acquaintance  who 
were  engaged  in  "  improving "  their  own  places, 
such  as  Lord  Burlington,  Lord  Bathurst,  and  Lord 
Oxford.^ 

As  early  as  17 13  Pope  had  written  an  article  on 
Gardening  in  'The  Guardian,  and  now,  for  the  first 
time,  he  had  a  free  hand  in  putting  his  theories 
into  practice.  The  formal  style  of  gardening  had 
fallen  out  of  favour,  and  the  stately  pleasaunces, 
with  their  pleached  alleys,  yew-hedges  and  walled 
enclosures,  were  being  "  stubbed  up  "  by  the  new 
school  of  "  nature,"  or  landscape  gardeners,  led 
by  Kent  and  Bridgman.  Though  there  were  but 
"  ten  sticks  "  in  the  garden  when  he  took  the  place, 
Pope  "  twisted  and  twirled  and  rhymed  and  har- 
monised it  till  it  appeared  two  or  three  sweet  little 
lawns,  opening  and  opening  beyond  one  another,  and 
the  whole  surrounded  with  impenetrable  woods."  ^ 
Before  he  had  finished  with  it  the  garden  boasted, 
besides  the  famous   Grotto,   one   large   mount,   two 

^  The  charges  against  Lord  Oxford  had  been  dismissed,  and  he 
was  released  in  171 7.  He  continued  to  attend  the  House  of 
Lords,  though  he  was  excepted  from  the  Act  of  Grace,  and 
forbidden  to  appear  at  Court. 

'  Horace  Walpole.  After  Pope's  death  Sir  William  Stanhope 
bought  the  villa.  In  1760,  to  quote  Walpole  again,  "He  hacked 
and  hewed  these  groves,  wriggling  a  winding  gravel  walk  through 
them  with  an  edging  of  shrubs,  in  what  they  call  the  modern  taste, 
and,  in  short,  has  desired  the  three  lanes  to  walk  in  again — and 
now  is  forced  to  shut  them  out  again  by  a  wall,  for  there  was  not  a 
Muse  could  walk  there  but  she  was  spied  by  every  country  fellow 
that  went  by  with  a  pipe  in  his  mouth."  In  1807  the  villa  became 
the  property  of  Lady  Howe,  who  pulled  it  down  and  built  another 
house  a  hundred  yards  away. 


232  Mr.  Pope 

small  mounts,  a  quincunx,  an  obelisk,  a  shell  temple, 
a  wilderness,  a  grove,  an  orangery,  and  a  garden 
house  ! 

"The  history  of  my  transplantation  and  settle- 
ment, which  you  desire,"  wrote  Pope  to  Jervas,  who 
was  still  in  Ireland,  "  would  require  a  volume,  were 
I  to  enumerate  the  many  projects,  difficulties, 
vicissitudes,  and  various  fates  attending  that  important 
part  of  my  life  :  much  more,  should  I  describe  the 
many  draughts,  elevations,  profiles,  perspective,  etc., 
of  every  palace  and  garden  proposed,  intended,  and 
happily  raised,  by  the  strength  of  that  faculty  wherein 
all  great  geniuses  excel — imagination.  At  last,  the 
gods  and  fates  have  fixed  me  on  the  borders  of  the 
Thames,  in  the  districts  of  Richmond  and  Twicken- 
ham. It  is  here  I  hope  to  receive  you,  sir,  returned 
from  eternising  the  Ireland  of  this  age.  For  you 
my  structures  rise  ;  for  you  my  colonnades  extend 
their  wings  ;  for  you  my  groves  aspire,  and  roses 
bloom.  ...  I  cannot  express  how  I  long  to  renew 
our  old  intercourse  and  conversation,  our  morning 
conferences  in  bed  in  the  same  room,  our  evening 
walks  in  the  park,  our  amusing  voyages  on  the  water, 
our  philosophical  suppers,  our  lectures,  our  disserta- 
tions, our  gravities,  our  reveries,  our  fooleries,  or 
what  not.  This  awakens  the  memories  of  those 
who  have  made  a  part  in  all  these — poor  Parnell, 
Garth,  Rowe  !  "  ' 

At  this  time  Pope  was  engaged  in  editing  Parnell's 

"  Remains  "     and    writing    an    epitaph    for    Rowe's 

monument  in  Westm.inster  Abbey.      Next  to  Parnell 

and   Rowe,  Sir  Samuel  Garth,  the    best-natured    of 

^  Parnell  and  Rowe  had  died  in  1718,  Garth  in  1719. 


Relations  with  Lady  M.  W«  Montagu     233 

men,  had  left  Pope  the  truest  concern  for  his  loss. 
"  His  death  was  very  heroical,  and  yet  unaffected 
enough  to  have  made  a  saint  or  philosopher  famous. 
But  ill  tongues  and  worse  hearts  have  treated  his  last 
moments  as  wrongfully  as  they  did  his  life,  with 
irreligion.  You  must  have  heard  many  tales  on  the 
subject ;  but,  if  ever  there  was  a  good  Christian, 
without  knowing  himself  to  be  so,  it  was  Dr.  Garth." ^ 
In  the  summer  of  this  year  Pope  was  house-hunt- 
ing at  Twickenham  for  the  Wortley  Montagus.  He 
discovered  a  villa  belonging  to  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller 
which  he  thought  would  suit  his  friends,  and  there 
is  a  quaint  letter  on  the  subject  from  the  painter, 
whose  spelling  was  almost  on  a  par  with  that  of 
Mrs.  Pope.  Though  an  artist,  he  seems  to  have 
been  a  fairly  keen  hand  at  a  bargain.  Thus,  on  June 
19,  he  writes  to  Pope  : 

"  Sir, 

"  I  am  in  towne,  and  have  loucked  for  beds 
and  bedsteads  which  must  cost  ten  pounds  a  year. 
When  1  promised  to  provide  them,  you  had  maid 
no  mention  of  the  towne  rates,  which  I  am  to  pay, 
and  will  be  5  pounds  a  year  at  least,  and  which 
would  be  15  pounds  per  annum  with  the  beds  ; 
and  that  house  did  let  for  45  a  year  when  I  bought 
it  ;  so  that  all  I  have  laid  out  being  near  400  pound, 
would  be  done  for  nothing,  of  which  you  will  con- 
sider and  let  me  know  your  mind.   .   .   ." 

The  writer  concludes  by  sending  his  respects  to 
"  my  Lady  Mery  Whortley." 

*  The  best  good  Christian  he,  ahhough  he  knows  it  not. 

Farewell  to  London. 


234  Mr.  Pope 

The  simple-minded  Sir  Godfrey  was  a  character 
in  his  way — ignorant,  incredibly  vain,  and  something 
of  a  butt  to  Pope  and  his  friends.  There  is  one 
letter  from  the  poet  to  the  painter  which,  consider- 
ing Kneller's  epistolary  style,  reads  like  an  elaborate 
piece  of  sarcasm  draped  with  a  transparent  veil  of  ♦ 
flattery.  That  Kneller  would  swallow  anything 
Pope  must  have  been  aware  when  he  thanked  him 
for  the  pleasure  of  his  letter,  "  which  convinces  me 
that,  whatever  another  wise  man  can  be,  a  wise  and 
great  painter,  at  least,  can  be  above  the  stars  when 
he  pleases.  The  elevation  of  such  a  genius  is  not 
to  be  measured  by  the  object  it  flies  at  :  it  soars  far 
higher  than  its  aim,  and  carries  up  the  subject  along 
with  it.  ...  I  thought  to  compliment  upon  paper 
had  been  left  to  poets  and  lovers.  Dryden  says  he 
has  seen  a  fool  think  in  your  picture  of  him.  And 
I  have  reason  to  say  I  have  seen  the  least  of  man- 
kind appear  one  of  the  greatest  under  your  hands." 

Pope  had  arranged  that  Kneller  should  paint  Lady 
Mary's  portrait,^  and  the  picture,  he  assures  the 
lady,  dwells  very  near  his  heart,  since  he  much  pre- 
ferred her  present  face  to  her  past.  "  I  know 
and  thoroughly  esteem  yourself  of  this  year,"  he 
explains.  "  I  know  no  more  of  Lady  Mary  Pierre- 
pont  than  to  admire  what  I  have  heard  of  her,  or 
be  pleased  with  some  fragments  of  hers,  as  I  am 
with  Sappho's.  But  now — I  cannot  say  what  I  would 
say  of  you  now.     Only  still  give  me  cause  to   say 

*  Pope  always  alludes  to  the  portrait  as  if  it  were  commissioned 
for  himself  ;  but,  whether  it  were  painted  for  him  or  for  Mr. 
Wortley,  it  eventually  passed  into  the  possession  of  Lady  Mary's 
son-in-law,  Lord  Bute. 


Relations  with  Lady  M,  W,  Montagu     235 

you  are. good  to  me,  and  allow  me. as  much  of 
your  person  as  Sir  Godfrey  can  help  me  to." 

In  order  to  give  the  lady  as  little  trouble  as 
possible,  Sir  Godfrey  had  arranged  to  draw  her 
face  with  crayons,  and  finish  it  at  her  own  house 
in  a  morning,  afterwards  transferring  it  to  canvas. 
"This,  I  must  observe,"  continues  Pope,  "is  a 
manner  in  which  they  seldom  draw  any  but  crowned 
heads  ;  and  I  observe  it  with  secret  pride  and 
pleasure." 

There  is  quite  a  lover-like  ring  about  one  or  two 
brief  notes  which  may  be  attributed  to  the  same 
period.      For  example  : 

"  It  is  not  in  my  power  [dear  madam]  to  say  what 
agitation  the  two  or  three  words  I  wrote  to  you  the 
other  morning  have  given  me.  Indeed,  I  truly 
esteem  you,  and  put  my  trust  in  you.  I  can  say  no 
more,  and  you  would  not  have  me." 

Another  billet-doux  informs  the  lady  that  Sir 
Godfrey  has  come  to  town,  and  will  wait  on  her  in  the 
morning.  "  He  is  really  very  good  to  me,"  it  con- 
cludes ;  "  I  heartily  wish  you  will  be  so  too.  But  I 
submit  to  you  in  all  things  ;  nay,  in  the  manner  of 
all  things  :  your  own  pleasure  and  your  own  time. 
Upon  my  word,  I  will  take  yours,  and  understand 
you  as  you  would  be  understood,  with  a  real  respect 
and  resignation  when  you  deny  me  anything,  and  a 
hearty  gratitude  when--your  grant  me  anything. 
Your  will  be  done  !  but  God  send  it  may  be  the 
same  with  mine." 

This  may  have  been  only  an  elaborate  game  ;  yet 
it  seems  not  improbable  that  Pope  was  trying,  by 
means  of  this  pseudo-intrigue,  to    heal    the  wound 


236  Mr.  Pope 

that  had  been  inflicted  upon  his  heart  or  vanity  by 
the  Blounts.  Nothing  could  have  afforded  him 
keener  dehght  and  gratification  than  to  have  it 
beheved  that  he  was  au  mieux  with  one  of  the  most 
brilHant  beauties  of  the  day.  This  would  indeed 
have  been  a  triumph  over  the  two  country  girls,  who 
had  made  use  of  him,  flouted  his  overtures,  and 
treated  him  as  though  he  were  fit  for  nothing  better 
than  humdrum  friendship. 

In  spite  of  his  love-troubles,  his  ill  health,^  and 
his  increasing  boredom  with  Homer,  Pope  found 
strength  and  leisure  to  devote  to  the  improvement 
of  his  new  domain.  He  was  so  enchanted  with  his 
surroundings  that  he  could  not  tear  himself  away  for 
his  usual  tour  of  country  houses.  In  September  he 
was  still  at  Twickenham,  taking  part  in  a  consultation 
about  the  gardens  of  a  house  at  Richmond  which 
had  been  taken  by  the  Prince  of  Wales.  In  a  letter 
to  Lord  Bathurst  he  gives  an  amusing  account  of 
the  various  opinions  enunciated  by  various  experts 
in  the  course  of  the  discussion.  One  declared  that 
he  would  not  have  too  much  art  in  the  design,  for 
he  considered  that  gardening  was  only  sweeping 
nature.  Another  thought  that  gravel  walks  were 
not  in  good  taste ;  a  third  insisted  that  there  should 
not  be    one    lime-tree    in    the  whole    plantation  ;    a 

*  Pope  had  a  severe  fit  of  illness  in  the  autumn  of  this  year. 
He  tells  Martha  Blount  (on  October  30)  that  he  is  being  sub- 
mitted to  a  very  odd  course  of  treatment  for  a  violent  pain  in  his 
side  :  "  I  mean  a  course  of  brickbats  and  tiles,  which  they  apply  to 
me  piping  hot,  morning  and  night  ;  and  sure  it  is  very  satisfactory 
to  one  who  loves  architecture  at  his  heart  to  be  built  round  in  his 
very  bed.  My  body  may  properly  at  this  time  be  called  a  human 
structure." 


i-nyr.Lv  ii:;  l.y  <  aruliiu-  Watson  after  a  pahititlg  by  Sir  (".odfrey  Kiielk-r. 
J.AU\    MARY    WORTLEY    MONTAGU,    I72O. 


I 


Theories  of  Gardening  237 

fourth  would  exclude  horse-chestnuts,  which  he  said 
were  not  trees  but  weeds  ;  while  Dutch  elms  were 
condemned  by  a  fifth.  There  were  some  who  could 
not  bear  evergreens,  and  called  them  "  nevergreens," 
and  others  who  disliked  them  only  when  they  were 
cut  into  shapes,  by  what  they  described  as  "  evergreen 
tailors."^  "These,  my  lord,"  concludes  Pope,  "are 
our  men  of  taste,  who  pretend  to  prove  it  by  tasting 
little  or  nothing.  We  have  the  same  sort  of  critics 
in  poetry  ;  one  is  fond  of  nothing  but  heroics, 
another  cannot  relish  tragedies,  another  hates 
pastorals  ;    all  little  wits  delight  in  epigrams." 

Even  in  mid-winter  Twickenham  still  held  its 
own  as  an  earthly  paradise.  Pope  declared  that  no 
place  could  be  more  delightful  at  that  time  of  year. 
The  situation  was  so  airy  and  yet  so  warm  that  he 
thought  himself  in  a  kind  of  heaven,  where  the 
prospect  was  boundless  and  the  sun  his  near  neigh- 
bour. In  a  letter  of  invitation  to  his  friend  Broome, 
then  newly  married,  Pope  enlarges  on  the  enchanted 
bowers,  silver  stream,  opening  avenues,  rising  mounts, 
and  painted  grottoes  that  are  to  delight  the  eyes  of 
his  guests.  Broome  is  further  enticed  by  a  fancy 
sketch  of  the  ease,  the  quiet,  the  contentment  of 
soul  and  repose  of  body  which  he  will  feel  when 
stretched  in  an  elbow-chair,  mum  for  his  breakfast, 
chine  and  potatoes  for  dinner,  and  a  dose  of  burnt 
wine  to  induce  slumber  ;  and  all  this  without  one 
sermon  to  preach,  or  any  family  duty  to  pay  ! 

'  In  his  article  on  gardening  in  T/ie  Guardian  (September  29, 
1713)  Pope  had  given  a  jesting  description  of  an  eminent  cook 
who  beautified  his  country  seat  with  a  coronation  dinner  in  greens, 
"  where  you  see  the  Champion  flourishing  on  horseback  at  one 
end  of  the  table,  and  the  Queen  in  perpetual  youth  at  the  other." 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

1720 

The  End  of  the  '*  Iliad  ''—Gay's  Welcome  from 
Greece — Criticisms — III  Health  and  Low 
Spirits 

THE  year  1720  saw  the  completion  of  the  trans- 
lation of  the  "  Iliad."  The  fifth  and  sixth 
volumes  were  issued  to  subscribers  on  May  12,  and 
the  whole  work  was  dedicated,  not  to  any  noble 
patron,  but  to  Congreve,  who  was  a  persona  grata 
with  both  parties.  Pope  had  long  been  looking 
forward  to  what  he  described  as  his  deliverance  from 
poetry  and  slavery,  and,  after  the  conclusion  of  his 
labours,  declared  his  intention  of  retiring  a  miles 
emeritus.  He  pitied  the  poor  poets  who  were  to 
succeed  him,  and,  if  his  gains  were  sufficient,  he 
would  gladly  found  a  hospital,  like  that  of  Chelsea, 
for  such  of  his  tribe  as  were  disabled  in  the  Muses' 
service,  or  whose  years  required  a  dismissal  from 
the  unnatural  task  of  rhyming  themselves  and  others 
to  death. 

The  completion  of  the  work  was  hailed  with 
another  chorus  of  praise  from  friends,  admirers,  and 
the  public  generally.  Gay  celebrated  the  event  with 
a  spirited  poem  called  "  Mr.  Pope's  Welcome  from 

238 


The  End  of  the  ^^  Iliad  *^  239 

Greece.  A  copy  of  verses  written  by  Mr.  Gay 
upon  Mr.  Pope's  having  finished  his  translation  of 
Homer's  '  Iliad.'  "  ^  A  few  stanzas  may  be  quoted, 
since  they  will  serve  to  show  the  extent  and  variety 
of  Pope's  acquaintance  at  this  time. 

The  chronicler  imagines  that  the  poet  has  long 
been  absent  from  his  native  land,  seeking  adventures 
in  Homer's  country.  His  six  years'  labours  being 
at  an  end,  he  has  set  sail  for  England,  and  as  his 
ship  passes  up  the  Thames  bonfires  blaze  and  bones 
and  cleavers  ring.  As  he  nears  "  proud  London's 
spires,"  a  huge  concourse  of  goodly  dames  and  cour- 
teous knights  swarms  down  to  the  quay,  and  the  sky 
re-echoes  to  shouts  of  joy.     The  bard  continues  : 

What  lady's  that  to  whom  he  gently  bends  ? 

Who  knows  her  not  ?     Ah,  those  are  Wortley's  eyes. 
How  art  thou  honoured,  numbered  with  her  friends, 

For  she  distinguishes  the  good  and  wise. 
The  sweet-tongued  Murray  ^  near  her  side  attends  : 

Now  to  my  heart  the  glance  of  Howard  ^  flies  ; 
Now  Hervey,  fair  of  face,*  I  mark  full  well — 
With  thee,  youth's  youngest  daughter,  sweet  Lepell.^ 


^  The  original  draft,  which  is  in  the  British  Museum,  bears  the 
following  title  :  "Alexander  Pope,  his  Safe  Return  from  Troy.  A 
Congratulatory  Poem  on  his  completing  his  Translation  of  Homer's 
'  Iliad.'  In  the  manner  of  the  beginning  of  the  last  canto  of 
'  Ariosto.' " 

*  Grizel  Baillie,  who  was  married  to  Alexander  Murray,  of 
Stanhope.  She  was  a  pretty  woman  and  a  charming  singer  of 
old  Scotch  ballads.  Mrs.  Murray  and  Lady  Mary  Wortley  were 
intimate  friends  at  this  time,  but  they  quarrelled  a  couple  of  years 
later. 

"  Mrs.  Howard,  afterwards  Lady  Suffolk. 

*  John,  Lord  Hervey. 

*  Molly  Lepell  was  married  to  Lord  Hervey  at  this  time, 
though  the  marriage  was  not  announced  till  October, 


240  Mr.  Pope 

I  see  two  lovely  sisters,  hand  in  hand, 

The  fair-haired  Martha  and  Teresa  brown  ; 

Madge  Bellenden,^  the  tallest  of  the  land  ; 
And  smiling  Mary,^  soft  and  fair  as  down. 

Yonder  I  see  the  cheerful  duchess  ^  stand, 

For  friendship,  zeal,  and  blithesome  humours  known. 

Whence  that  loud  shout  in  such  a  hearty  strain  ? 

Why,  all  the  Hamiltons  are  in  her  train. 

See  next  the  decent  Scudamore  *  advance 

With  Winchelsea  ^  still  meditating  song, 
With  her  Miss  Howe  ^  came  there  by  chance, 

Nor  knows  with  whom,  nor  why  she  comes  along. 
Far  off  from  these  see  Santlow  ''  famed  for  dance, 

And  frolick  Bicknell,^  and  her  sister  young, 
With  other  names  by  me  not  to  be  named. 
Much  loved  in  private,  not  in  public  famed. 

After  the  female  band  retires,  the  singer  imagines 
that  he  sees  famous  Buckingham  "  who  knows  to 
strike  the  living  lyre,"  and  impetuous  Bathurst, 
"  whom  you  and  I  strive  whom  shall  love  the  most." 
Next : 

*  Elder  daughter  of  Lord  Bellenden. 

'  Younger  sister  of  Margaret,  and  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
of  the  maids-of-honour.  She  married  Colonel  Campbell,  who 
became  Duke  of  Argyll  in  1761. 

^  The  Duchess  of  Hamilton,  whose  husband  had  been  killed  in 
the  duel  with  Lord  Mohun  in  1712. 

*  Wife  of  Viscount  Scudamore.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Simon, 
Lord  Digby, 

*  The  hterary  Lady  Winchelsea,  of  whom  mention  has  already 
been  made. 

^  Sophia  Howe,  one  of  the  flightiest  of  the  maids-of-honour. 

"  Mrs.  Santlow  is  described  as  a  beautiful  woman,  a  pleasing 
actress,  and  an  admirable  dancer.  She  is  said  to  have  been 
mistress  to  the  great  Duke  of  Marlborough.  In  the  autumn  of 
this  year  she  married  Booth  the  actor. 

*  Mrs.  Bicknell  was  a  clever  comedy  actress,  who  had  played 
in  T/ie  Whai-dye-calPt  f  and  Three  Hours  after  Marriage. 
Her  sister  was  known  as  Miss  Younger. 


Gay^s  Welcome  from  Greece  241 

See  generous  Burlington  with  goodly  Bruce, ^ 

(But  Bruce  comes  wafted  in  a  soft  sedan), 
Dan  Prior  -  next,  beloved  by  every  muse. 

And  friendly  Congreve,  unreproachful  man  ! 
(Oxford  by  Cunningham  ^  hath  sent  excuse). 

See  hearty  Watkins  ^  comes  with  cup  and  can, 
And  Lewis,^  who  has  never  friend  forsaken  ; 
And  Laughton  ^  whispering,  asks — Is  Troy  town  taken  ? 

Bold  Warwick  ^  comes,  of  free  and  honest  mind  ; 

Bold,  generous  Craggs,^  whose  heart  was  ne'er  disguised ; 
Ah  why,  sweet  St.  John,^  cannot  I  thee  find? 

St.  John  for  every  social  virtue  prized — 
Alas  !  to  foreign  climates  he's  confined. 

Or  else  to  see  thee  here  I  well  surmised  : 
Thou,  too,  my  Swift,  dost  breathe  Boeotian  air, 
When  wilt  thou  bring  back  wit  and  humour  here  ? 

Harcourt  ^°  I  see,  for  eloquence  renowned, 

The  mouth  of  justice,  oracle  of  law  ! 
Another  Simon  is  beside  him  found. 

Another  Simon  like  as  straw  to  straw. 

*  Lord  Bruce,  afterwards  Earl  of  Aylesbury.  He  had  married 
a  sister  of  Lord  Burlington. 

*  Matthew  Prior,  the  poet.  He  died  at  his  patron  Lord  Oxford's 
house  in  the  following  year. 

^  Alexander  Cunningham,  M.P.  for  Renfrewshire. 

*  Henry  Watkins.  He  had  been  Secretary  to  the  Dutch 
Embassy.     He  was  a  favourite  with  Bolingbroke. 

*  Erasmus  Lewis,  Secretary  to  Lord  Oxford.  He  corresponded 
with  Swift,  and  arranged  for  the  publication  of  "  Gulliver's 
Travels." 

*  Possibly  John  Lawton,  who  was  married  to  a  sister  of  Lord 
Halifax. 

'  The  young  Earl  of  Warwick,  son  of  the  Countess  who  married 
Addison.     He  died  the  following  year. 

*  James  Craggs,  the  Secretary  of  State.  He  died  the  following 
February, 

*  Lord  Bolingbroke. 

'"  Simon,  created  Viscount    Harcourt  in  171 1.     He  was  made 
Lord  Chancellor  in  1712.     His  son  Simon  died  this  year. 
VOL.    I  16 


242  Mr,  Pope 

How  Lansdowne  ^  smiles  with  lasting  laurel  crowned  ! 

What  mitred  prelate  there  commands  our  awe  ? 
See  Rochester^  approving  nods  the  head, 
And  ranks  one  modern  with  the  mighty  dead. 


Carlton  ^  and  Chandos  *  thy  arrival  grace ; 

Hanmer,^  whose  eloquence  the  unbiassed  sways ; 
Harley,^  whose  goodness  opens  in  his  face, 

And  shows  his  heart  the  seat  where  virtue  stays. 
Ned  Blount  ^  advances  next  with  hasty  pace. 

In  haste,  yet  sauntering,  hearty  in  his  ways, 
I  see  the  friendly  Carylls  ^  come  by  dozens, 
Their  wives,  their  uncles,  daughters,  sons,  and  cousins. 

Arbuthnot  there  I  see,  in  physic's  art 
As  Galen  learned,  or  famed  Hippocrate  ; 

Whose  company  drives  sorrow  from  the  heart, 
As  all  disease  his  medicines  dissipate  : 

Kneller  amid  the  triumph  bears  his  part. 
Who  could  (were  mankind  lost)  anew  create. 

What  can  th'  extent  of  his  vast  soul  confine  ? 

A  painter,  critic,  engineer,  divine  !  ^ 

Thee  Jervas  hails,  robust  and  debonair, 

"  Now  have  we  conquered  Homer,  friends,"  he  cries  ; 

*  Pope's  poetical  friend,  George  Granville,  Lord  Lansdowne. 

*  Bishop  Atterbury. 

'  Henry  Boyle,  Lord  Carlton.     There  is  an  allusion  to  Carlton's 
calm  sense  in  the  "  Epilogue  to  the  Satires." 

*  The  princely  Duke  of  Chandos,  who  was  supposed  to  be  the 
original  of  Timon,  in  the  Fourth  Moral  Essay. 

*  Sir  Thomas  Hanmer,  Speaker  in  the  House  of  Commons  in 
the  last  Parliament  of  Queen  Anne. 

^  Lord  Harley,  afterwards  second  Earl  of  Oxford. 
''  Pope's  early  correspondent,  Edward  Blount,  of  Blagdon. 
®  John  Caryll    had   persuaded   a  number  of  his   relations  and 
friends  to  subscribe  for  the  "  Iliad." 

*  The  praise  of  Kneller  was  partly  ironical. 


Gay^s  Welcome  from  Greece  243 

Dartneuf,^  gay  joker,  joyous  Ford,*  is  there, 

And  wondering  Maine,  so  fat  with  laughing  eyes 

(Gay,  Maine,  and  Cheney,^  boon  companions  dear ; 
Gay  fat,  Maine  fatter,  Cheyney  huge  of  size). 

Yea,  Dennis,  Gildon  (hearing  thou  hast  riches). 

And  honest,  hatless  Cromwell,  with  red  breeches. 


Yonder,  I  see  among  th'  expecting  crowd 

Evans,^  with  laugh  jocose,  and  tragic  Young  ;  * 

High-buskined  Booth,*'  grave  Mawbert,^  wandering  Frowde,^ 
And  Titcombe's  belly  waddles  slow  along. 

See  Digby  ^  faints  at  Southerne  talking  loud. 
Yea,  Steele  and  Tickell  mingle  in  the  throng, 

Tickell,  whose  skiff  (in  partnership,  they  say) 

Set  forth  for  Greece,  but  foundered  on  the  way. 

'  Charles  Dartneuf,  Paymaster  of  the  Board  of  Works,  whose 
epicurean  tastes  were  satirised  by  Pope  in  the  "  First  Imitation 
of  Horace." 

Each  mortal  has  his  pleasure  ;  none  deny 

Scarsdale  his  bottle,  Darty  his  ham-pie. 

*  Charles  Ford,  an  Irishman,  and  a  great  favourite  of  Swift, 
with  whom  he  corresponded  regularly. 

'  Dr.  George  Cheyne,  the  popular  Bath  physician,  who  was  a 
specialist  on  diet. 

*  Dr.  Abel  Evans,  of  St.  John's  College,  Oxford.  He  was 
famous  for  his  epigrams  : 

Songs,  sonnets,  epigrams,  the  winds  uplift, 

And  whisk  'em  back  to  Evans,  Young,  and  Swift. 

The  Dunciad. 

*  Dr.  Edward  Young,  the  poet  and  dramatist. 

*  Barton  Booth,  the  tragedian. 

^  James  Francis  Mawbert,  a  portrait-painter.  He  copied  the 
portraits  of  all  the  English  poets  he  could  find,  while  Dryden, 
Wycherly,  Congreve,  and  Pope  sat  to  him. 

''  Philip  Frowde,  author  of  a  couple  of  tragedies. 

Let  Jervas  gratis  paint,  and  Frowde 
Save  threepence  and  his  soul. 

Faretvell  to  London. 

*  The  Hon.  Robert  Digby,  second  son  of  William,  Lord  Digby. 
He  was  a  chronic  invalid,  and  died  in  1726.  Pope  wrote  his 
epitaph. 


244  Mr.  Pope 

Lo,  the  two  Doncastles  ^  in  Berkshire  known  ! 

Lo,  Bickford,^  Fortescue  ^  of  Devon  land  ! 
Lo,  Tooker,  Eckershall,^  Sykes,  Rawlinson  ! 

See  hearty  Morley  ^  take  thee  by  the  hand  ! 
Ayres,  Graham,  Buckridge,  joy  thy  voyage  done  ; 
Lo,  Stonor,*^  Fenton,  Caldwell,  Ward,  and  Broome;' 
Lo,  thousands  more,  but  I  want  rhyme  and  room  ! 

How  loved,  how  honoured  thou  !     Yet  be  not  vain  ! 

And  sure  thou  art  not,  for  I  hear  thee  say — 
"All  this,  my  friends,  I  owe  to  Homer's  strain. 

On  whose  strong  pinions  I  exalt  my  lay. 
What  from  contending  cities  did  he  gain  ? 

And  what  rewards  his  grateful  country  pay  ? 
None,  none  vs^as  paid — -why,  then,  all  this  for  me  ? 
These  honours,  Homer,  had  been  just  to  thee." 

The  "  Welcome"  is  a  fine  tribute  of  friendship,  but 
the  reverse  side  of  the  medal  must  not  be  ignored. 
Dissentient  voices  there  were,  shrill  and  strident, 
though  few.  With  hysterical  vehemence,  Dennis 
continued  to  scream  unmeasured  abuse  of  everything 
and  anything  that  his  enemy  published.  In  his 
"  Remarks  upon  Mr.  Pope's  Translation  of  Homer  " 
(Curll,  1717)  Dennis  had  quoted  St.  Evremond's 
saying  that  there  is  no  nation  where  the  men  have 
more    courage,   the   women  more  beauty,  and  both 

^  Pope's  old  friends,  the  Dancastles  of  Binfield. 

*  A  Devonshire  worthy,  one  of  the  Bickfords  of  Dunsland. 

'  William  Fortescue,  afterwards  Master  of  the  Rolls,  who  was 
always  willing  to  give  Pope  legal  advice  gratis. 

*  James  Eckershall,  who  advised  the  poet  in  his  financial 
speculations. 

*  "  Hearty  Morley  "  may  have  been  the  brother-in-law  of  Sir 
George  Brown,  and  husband  of  "  Thalestris,"  the  Amazon  of  "  The 
Rape  of  the  Lock." 

®  Probably  Thomas  Stonor,  of  Stonor  Park. 

'  Broome  and  Fenton  are  mentioned  elsewhere.  The  other 
names  cannot  be  identified  with  any  exactness. 


Criticisms  245 

sexes  more  wit  than  in  England,  but  there  is  no 
country  where  good  taste  is  so  rare.  The  people  of 
England  had  chosen  for  their  favourite  a  little, 
foolish,  abject  thing,  who  had  written  two  farces  and 
a  comic  poem,  without  one  jest  in  the  three.  His 
translation  of  Homer  was  barbarous,  flat,  obscure, 
affected,  and  unnatural,  where  the  original  was  pure, 
clear,  lofty,  simple,  and  unaffected.  So  far  from 
making  Homer  talk  English,  he  made  him  talk 
Irish,  and  Lintot  might  be  said  to  buy  more  bears 
and  sell  more  bulls  between  the  Temple  gates  than 
all  the  stockjobbers  did  in  'Change  Alley.^  "  The 
Pegasus  of  the  little  gentleman  is  not  the  steed  that 
Homer  rode,  but  a  blind,  stumbling  Kentish  post- 
horse,  which  neither  walks,  trots,  paces,  nor  runs  ; 
but  is  upon  an  eternal  Canterbury,  and  often 
stumbles,  and  often  falls." 

Dennis  regards  this  "  popular  scribbler  "  as  an 
enemy  to  *'  my  king,  my  country,  my  religion, 
and  to  that  liberty  which  has  been  the  sole  felicity 
of  my  life."  He  is  at  once  Whig  and  Tory,  Papist 
and  pillar  of  the  Church  of  England,  a  writer  of 
Guardians  and  Examiners^  a  rhymester  without  judg- 
ment or  reason,  and  a  Jesuitical  pretender  to  truth. 
This  barbarous  wretch,  though  perpetually  boasting 
of  humanity  and  good-nature,  is  actually  a  lurking, 
waylaying  coward,  a  stabber  in  the  dark,  and  above 
all  a  traitor-friend,  who  has  betrayed  all  mankind. 
He  is  a  professor  of  the  worst  religion,  which  he 
laughs  at,  while  observing  the  maxim  that  "  no  faith 
is  to  be  kept  with  heretics." 

*  In  another  place  Dennis  says  that  Pope  had  sent  abroad  as 
many  "  bulls  "  as  his  namesake,  Pope  Alexander. 


246  Mr.  Pope 

Coarse  and  brutal  abuse  of  this  kind  should  have 
given  Pope  but  little  concern,  even  though  there 
might  be  a  grain  of  truth  here  and  there  among  the 
rubbish.  Perhaps  he  smarted  more  under  a  lighter 
bit  of  satire  ( 1 7 1 9),  inscribed  and  recommended  to 
"that  little  gentleman  of  great  vanity  who  has  just 
put  forth  a  fourth  volume  of  Homer."  In  this 
Pope   is  described   as — 

An  unfledged  author,  flushed  with  praise, 
Sprung  from  light  minds  by  superficial  lays  ; 
Who  the  gay  crowd,  with  tinkling  chimes, 
Has  skill  to  please,  and  fashionable  rhymes. 

After  alluding  to  the  evil  treatment  of  Homer 
by  "  bold  Chapman  and  dull  Ogilby,"  the  satirist 
continues  : 

Gay  Pope  succeeds,  and  joins  his  skill  with  these, 
He  smoothes  him  o'er,  and  gives  him  grace  and  ease, 
And  makes  him  fine — the  beaux  and  belles  to  please. 
Thus  is  our  wit  and  thus  our  learning  tried  ! 
Thus  Britons  write  and  thus  are  qualified  ! 

The  early  part  of  this  year  was  spent  in  the  quiet 
and  retirement  necessitated  by  hard  work  and  ill- 
health.  In  February  Caryll  wrote  to  ask  for  news 
of  the  beau-monde  and  of  Parnassus,  but  Pope,  as 
usual,  had  none  to  tell.  He  had  not  seen  a  play  for 
twelve  months,  nor  attended  any  opera  or  public 
assembly.  *'  I  am  the  common  topic  of  ridicule  as  a 
country  lout ;  and  if,  once  a  month,  I  trudge  to  town 
in  a  horseman's  coat,  I  am  stared  at,  every  question 
I  ask,  as  the  most  ignorant  of  all  rustics."  His 
indisposition  has  been  so  great  that  such  an  alteration 
had  taken  place  in  his  constitution  as  deserved  to  be 


Ill  Health  and  Low  Spirits  247 

called  a  ruin  rather  than  a  revolution,  to  say  nothing 
of  a  dejection  of  spirits  that  had  destroyed  in  him  all 
vivacity  and  cheerfulness. 

About  this  time  it  seems  to  have  occurred  to 
Teresa  Blount  that  she  had  treated  Pope  rather 
badly,  and  she  wrote  to  ask  his  forgiveness.^  That 
he  thought  himself  in  a  dangerous  way  may  be 
gathered  from  the  tone  of  his  reply  : 

"  As  for  forgiveness,  I  am  approaching,  I  hope,  to 
that  time  and  condition  in  which  everybody  ought 
to  give  it,  and  to  ask  it  of  all  the  world.  I  sincerely 
do  so  with  regard  to  you  ;  and  beg  pardon  also 
for  that  very  fault  of  which  I  taxed  others — my 
vanity,  which  made  me  so  resenting. 

"  We  are  too  apt  to  resent  things  too  highly, 
till  we  come  to  know,  by  some  great  misfortune 
or  other,  how  much  we  are  born  to  endure  ;  and 
as  for  me,  you  need  not  suspect  of  resentment  a  soul 
which  can  feel  nothing  but  grief. 

*'  I  desire  extremely  to  see  you  both  again  ;  yet 
I  believe  I  shall  see  you  no  more  ;  and  I  sincerely 
hope,  as  well  as  think,  both  of  you  will  be  glad  of  it. 
I  therefore  wish  you  may  each  of  you  find  all  you 
desired  I  could  be,  in  some  one  whom  you  may  like 
better  to  see." 

In  another  brief  note  to  Teresa  we  find  the  poet 
actually  acknowledging  that  he  has  been  in  the 
wrong,  and  expressing  himself  with  a  humility  which 
was  entirely  foreign  to  his  nature.  "  Nothing,"  he 
complains,  "  could  be  so  bitter  to  a  tender  mind 
as  to  displease  most  where  he  would  (and  ought  in 

'  This   letter   is   undated,   but  it  is   attributed   to   this,   or  the 
preceding  year. 


248  Mr,  Pope 

gratitude)  to  please  best.  I  am  faithfully  yours  : 
unhappy  enough  to  want  a  great  deal  of  indulgence  ; 
but  sensible  I  deserve  it  less  and  less  from  my  dis- 
agreeable carriage.  I  am  truly  grateful  to  you  for 
pardoning  it  so  often,  not  able  to  know  when  I  can 
overcome  it,  and  only  able  to  wish  you  could  bear 
me  better." 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

1720 

The  South   Sea  Bubble 

T  N  the  spring  and  summer  of  this  year  the  whole 

^      nation  ran  mad  over  what  would  now  be  called 

the  South  Sea  "  boom."     France  had  set  the  fashion 

in  bubble  companies,  dazzled  by  the  showy  financial 

methods  of  John  Law,  of  Lauriston,-^     Law,  it  will 

be  remembered,  had  obtained  the  monopoly  of  the 

Mississippi  trade  for  a  company  that  had  volunteered 

to  take  over  the  National  Debt  of  France.     This  was 

in  1 717,  and  the  company  prospered  till  171 9,  when 

its  operations  were  extended,  and  the  stock  rapidly 

increased  in  value.     The  Government  was  relieved 

from   the    dread  of   bankruptcy,    immense    fortunes 

were   made — or   lost — and  John    Law    was    created 

Controller-General  of  the    finance    of  France.     By 

January   1720,  however,  the   shares    had   begun   to 

fall,  and,  though  this  was  attributed  to  the  fact  that 

a  number  of  speculators  were  selling  in  order  to  buy 

a  new  issue,  the  fall  continued,  and  Law  gradually 

lost  his  hold  upon   the   public,  though   the  Regent 

supported  him  almost  to  the  last. 

'  John  Law  (1671-1729)  had  been  imprisoned  and  sentenced  to 
death  in  1694  for  killing  a  man  in  a  duel.  He  escaped  from 
prison  and  fled  to  France.  After  the  bursting  of  the  Mississippi 
Bubble  he  was  obliged  to  fly  from  France.     He  died  in  Venice. 

249 


250  Mn  Pope 

An  imitation  of  the  Mississippi  scheme  was 
started  in  England  about  the  end  of  17 19,  in 
connection  with  the  South  Sea  Company.  The  pro- 
jectors of  the  new  monopoly  were  to  take  over  the 
Government  loans  and  annuities,  whereby  it  was 
expected  that  the  National  Debt  would  be  reduced 
and  public  credit  restored.  The  scheme  was  sup- 
ported by  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  (Aislabie), 
Lord  Sunderland,  the  two  Craggses,  and  other  leading 
statesmen.  Walpole  was  one  of  the  few  who 
actively  opposed  the  project  ;  but  he  was  then  out 
of  office,  and  his  remonstrances  had  no  effect. 

As  early  as  1716  Pope  had  bought  South  Sea 
stock  for  himself  and  the  Blounts,  and  had  further 
speculated  in  lottery  tickets,  payable  in  annuities. 
Early  in  March  1720  he  wrote  to  tell  Martha  that 
he  had  borrowed  money  on  their  lottery  orders  in 
order  to  buy  more  South  Sea  stock  at  180,  and 
expresses  his  gratification  that  the  shares  have  since 
risen  to  1 84.  Later  in  the  month  he  wrote  to  James 
Eckershall,  who  acted  for  him  in  these  transactions, 
that  he  heard  such  glov/ing  reports  of  advantages  to 
be  gained  by  some  project  or  other  in  the  stocks, 
that  his  spirit  was  up  with  double  zeal,  and  he  could 
not  resist  the  chance  of  trying  to  enrich  himself. 

"  I  assure  you,"  he  continues,  "  my  own  keeping 
a  coach  and  six  is  not  more  in  my  head  than  the 
pleasure  I  shall  take  in  seeing  Mrs.  Eckershall  in  her 
equipage.  To  be  serious,  I  hope  you  have  sold  the 
lottery  orders,  that  the  want  of  ready  money  may  be 
no  longer  an  impediment  to  our  buying  in  the  stock, 
which  was  very  unlucky  at  the  time.  .  .  .  Pray  let 
us    do  something  or    other   which    you  judge    the 


The  South  Sea  Bubble  251 

fairest  prospect.  1  am  equal  as  to  what  stock,  so 
you  like  it.  Let  but  Fortune  favour  us,  and  the 
world  will  sure  admire  our  prudence.  If  we  fail, 
let's  e'en  keep  the  mishap  to  ourselves.  But  'tis 
ignominious  (in  this  age  of  hope  and  golden  moun- 
tains) not  to  venture." 

The  stock  continued  to  rise  in  almost  miraculous 
fashion.  At  the  end  of  April  it  had  risen  from 
330  to  380,  and  about  this  time  Pope  replied  to 
an  inquiry  respecting  his  speculations  : 

"  The  question  you  ask  about  the  fair  ladies' 
gains,  and  my  own,  is  not  easily  answered.  There  is 
no  gain  till  the  stock  is  sold,  which  neither  theirs  nor 
mine  is.  So  that,  instead  of  wallowing  in  money, 
we  never  wanted  more  for  the  uses  of  life,  which  is 
a  pretty  general  case  with  most  of  the  adventurers.  .  . 
One  day  we  were  worth  two  or  three  thousand,  and 
the  next  day  not  above  three  parts  of  the  sum.  For 
my  own  particular,  I  have  very  little  in  ;  the  ladies 
are  much  richer  than  I,  but  how  rich,  as  you  see, 
there  is  no  telling  by  any  certain  rule  of  arithmetic." 

Meanwhile,  a  number  of  parasite  companies  had 
sprung  up,  and  'Change  Alley  had  become  the 
resort  of  fashion.  By  the  middle  of  June  there 
were  over  a  hundred  bubble  companies  in  existence, 
despite  a  proclamation  against  such  unlicensed 
schemes,  and  the  shares  of  all  were  at  a  premium. 
There  were  promising  schemes  for  developing  the 
national  fisheries,  for  making  English  china,  for 
cleansing  the  streets  and  supplying  water  to  the 
metropolis,  besides  such  chimerical  projects  as  dis- 
covering the  secret  of  perpetual  motion,  casting 
nativities,  or  extracting  butter  from  beech-nuts,  silver 


252  Mr.  Pope 

from  lead,  and  oil  from  poppies.  In  May  Steele  was 
vainly  trying  to  expose  the  true  nature  of  the  gamble 
in  his  paper,  The  Theatre^  while  Swift  compared 
'Change  Alley  to  a  gulf  in  the  South  Seas  : 

Subscribers  here  by  thousands  float, 

And  jostle  one  another  down, 
Each  paddhng  in  his  leaky  boat, 

And  here  they  fish  for  gold,  and  drown. 

But  no  one  paid  any  heed  to  the  warning  voices. 
Poor  Gay,  who  had  made  a  thousand  pounds  by  his 
poems,  invested  the  whole  of  his  little  fortune  in 
South  Sea  stock,  and  at  one  time  found  himself 
worth  ^2,000 — on  paper.  His  friends  urged  him 
to  sell  out  at  least  as  much  as  would  secure  him  a 
daily  clean  shirt  and  joint  of  mutton,  but  he  held  on 
to  the  last,  and  lost  his  all. 

"  The  London  language  and  conversation  is,  I 
find,  quite  changed,"  wrote  Mr.  Robert  Digby  to 
Pope  on  July  9.  "  I  am  pleased  with  the  thoughts 
of  seeing  nothing  but  a  general  good-humour  when  I 
come  to  town  ;  I  rejoice  in  the  universal  riches  I  hear 
of,  in  the  thought  of  their  having  this  effect.  They 
tell  me  you  was  soon  content  ;  and  that  you  cared 
not  for  such  an  increase  as  others  wished  for  you. 
By  this  account,  I  judge  you  the  richest  man  in  the 
South  Sea,  and  I  congratulate  you  accordingly." 

On  August  7  the  South  Sea  stock  touched  its 
highest  point,  950  ;  but  by  the  middle  of  the  month 
the  fall  had  begun — a  mere  accidental  "  slump,"  as  it 
was  supposed.  On  August  22  Pope  wrote  to  inform 
his  neighbour.  Lady  Mary  Wortley,  that  she  might 
depend  upon  it  as  a  certain  gain  to  buy  South  Sea 


The  South  Sea  Bubble  253 

stock  at  the  present  price,  which  would  assuredly  rise 
in  some  weeks  or  less.  "  I  can  be  as  sure  of  this  as 
the  nature  of  any  such  thing  will  allow,  from  the 
first  and  best  hands,  and  therefore  have  despatched 
the  bearer  with  all  speed  to  you."  Unfortunately 
for  herself,  Lady  Mary  took  this  advice,  and 
invested  not  only  her  own  money,  but  also  a  sum 
which  a  French  admirer,  M.  Remond,  had  entrusted 
to  her,  in  order  that  she  might  speculate  on  his 
behalf.  The  rapid  fall,  which  began  about  the  end 
of  August,  took  her  and  others  by  surprise  ;  the 
money  was  lost,  and  Remond,  who  refused  to  accept 
his  ill  fortune,  tried  to  frighten  her  into  making 
good  his  losses  by  threatening  to  send  certain 
indiscreet  letters  to  her  husband.  She  probably 
confided  her  trouble  to  Pope,  and  it  will  be  seen 
hereafter  what  use  he  made  of  his  knowledge. 

The  directors  of  the  South  Sea  Company  helped  to 
bring  about  their  own  downfall  by  trying  to  snuff 
out  the  unauthorised  minor  ventures.  The  pricking 
of  these  lesser  bubbles  presumably  opened  the  eyes  of 
the  public  to  the  real  character  of  the  parent  company, 
since  by  the  end  of  September  South  Sea  stock  had 
dropped  to  175,  and  ruin  was  widespread.  Pope 
put  a  good  face  on  the  matter,  and  gave  out  that  he 
had  retired  with  at  least  a  part  of  his  gains,  but 
there  is  no  means  of  knowing  whether  he  was  speak- 
ing the  truth.  He  always  disliked  being  pitied,  and, 
even  if  he  had  lost  heavily,  as  rumour  reported, 
he  would  have  done  his  best  to  conceal  the  fact.^ 
Writing  to  Atterbury  on  September  23,  he  says  that 

'  See  the  letter  to  Eckershall,  in  which  Pope  says,  "  If  we  fail, 
let's  e'en  keep  the  mishap  to  ourselves." 


2  54  Mr.  Pope 

he  has  some  cause  to  look  upon  the  bishop  as  a 
prophet. 

"  The  fate  of  the  South  Sea  scheme  has,  much 
sooner  than  I  expected,  verified  what  you  told  me. 
Most  people  thought  the  time  would  come,  but 
no  man  prepared  for  it.  .  .  .  Methinks  God  has 
punished  the  avaricious,  as  He  often  punishes 
sinners,  in  their  own  way,  in  the  very  sin  itself : 
the  thirst  of  gain  was  their  crime  ;  that  crime 
continued  became  their  punishment  and  ruin.  As 
for  the  few  who  have  the  good  fortune  to  remain 
with  half  what  they  imagined  they  had  (among 
whom  is  your  humble  servant),  I  would  have  them 
sensible  of  their  feHcity,  and  convinced  of  the  truth 
of  old  Hesiod's  maxim,  who,  after  half  his  estate 
was  swallowed  up  by  the  directors  of  those  days, 
resolved  that  half  to  be  more  than  the  whole.'' 

Atterbury  was  of  opinion  that,  had  the  project 
taken  root  and  flourished,  it  must  in  time  have 
overturned  the  constitution.  Three  or  four  hundred 
millions  was  such  a  weight,  that  whichever  way  it 
leaned  it  must  have  borne  down  all  before  it. 
Moralising  on  the  subject  in  a  letter  to  Pope,  he 
dwells  on  the  point  that  should  console  his  friend 
under  his  ill  luck.  "  Had  you  got  all  that  you  have 
lost  beyond  what  you  have  ventured,  consider  that 
these  superfluous  gains  would  have  sprung  from  the 
ruin  of  several  families  that  now  want  necessaries  ! 
A  thought  under  which  a  good  and  good-natured 
man  that  grew  rich  by  such  means,  could  not,  I 
persuade  myself,  be  easy." 

Pope  seized  on  the  moral  aspect  of  the  question 
with  characteristic  avidity.     He  did  not  wish  it  to  be 


The  South  Sea  Bubble  255 

thought  that  he  had  lost  on  his  venture,  because  that 
would  have  given  people  a  low  opinion  of  his 
shrewdness,  but  he  allowed  his  friends  to  understand 
that  he  had  made  little  or  nothing,  and  seemed  to 
think  that  this  would  almost  justify  him  in  posing 
as  a  philanthropist.  Thus,  he  tells  Caryll  (October 
28)  that  he  has  not  been  hurt  by  these  times  or 
fates,  and  that  the  ladies  in  Bolton  Street  were  still 
gainers,  even  at  the  low  ebb  to  which  the  stock  had 
fallen. 

*'  The  vast  inundation  of  the  South  Sea  has 
drowned  all  except  a  few  unrighteous  men,  contrary 
to  the  deluge  ;  and  it  is  some  comfort  to  me  I  am 
not  one  of  those,  even  in  my  afflictions.  It  is  a 
serious  satisfaction  to  me  to  reflect  that  I  am  not 
the  richer  for  the  calamities  of  others,  which,  as  the 
world  goes,  must  have  been  the  case  nine  times 
m  ten. 

This  attitude  seems  to  have  been  greatly  admired 
by  Pope's  friends,  who  did  not  perceive  that  he  had 
entered  into  a  wild-cat  speculation  purely  with  the 
intention    of   increasing    his    fortune,    and   that    his 
losses   were   due  not  to  his  own  virtue  but  to  the 
fact  that  he  did  not  sell  out  in  time.     Affain,  if  he 
had  really  retained  half  of  what  he  thought  he  had 
won,   how  could  he  reflect  with  satisfaction  on  the 
fact  that  he  was  not  the  richer  for  the  calamities  of 
others  .?     The  plain  truth  was  that  Pope  had  caught 
the  Stock  Exchange  fever,  had  speculated  and  lost  ; 
but  he  desired  to  pose  as  the  sensible  man  who  had 
contrived  to  get  out  of  the  scrape  without  material 
damage,  and  also  as  the  righteous  moralist  who  re- 
fused to  benefit  himself  at  the  expense  of  his  fellows. 


256  Mr.  Pope 

More  honest  and  more  manly  was  the  attitude 
of  Gav,  who,  though  at  first  so  much  cast  down  at 
the  loss  of  his  fortune  that  for  a  time  his  life  was  in 
danger,  presently  recovered  his  spirits,  and  addressed 
a  rhvmed  epistle  to  his  friend  Snow,  in  which  he 
ridicules  his  own  folly  : 

^\"hy  did  'Change  Alley  waste  thy  precious  hours 
Among  the  fools  who  gaped  for  golden  showers  ? 
No  wonder  if  we  found  some  poets  there, 
Who  live  on  fancy,  and  can  feed  on  air  ; 
No  wonder  they  were  caught  by  South  Sea  schemes, 
WTio  ne'er  enjoyed  a  guinea  but  in  dreams ; 
No  wonder  that  their  third  subscriptions  sold 
For  millions  of  imaginary  gold. 


CHAPTER    XXV 


1721 


*'  Epistle  to  James  Craggs  " — Swift's  Manifesto 
—  Proposed  Edition  of  Shakespeare  — 
Parnell's  '' Remains '—'' Epistle  to  Lord 
Oxford  " 

THE    South  Sea  disaster  was  followed  by  many 
changes,    social    and    political,    and     the    con- 
sequences were    far-reaching.      Robert    Knight,    the 
cashier  of  the  company,  fled  to  Belgium  ;  Aislabie, 
late    Chancellor    of  the    Exchequer,    was    disgraced 
and    expelled    from    the    House  ;    the    South    Sea 
directors  were   removed    from   all   public   offices  ;  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  whole 
matter,   and    finally   Walpole   assumed  the   reins   of 
Government.       The    Prince    of   Wales,    the    king's 
mistresses,  and    other   influential  persons  being  in- 
volved   in    the    Bubble    speculations,    there    were 
difficulties  in   the   way   of  a   full  and  searchino:  in- 
vestigation,   and   it   was  tound  impossible   to   bring 
the  directors,  or  the  absconding  cashier,  to  justice. 
Among  the  discredited  ministers  were  the  Craggses, 
father  and  son,  the  former  Postmaster-General,  the 
latter  Secretary  of  State.      James  Craggs  the  younger, 
who  was  a  neighbour  and  intimate  friend  of  Pope's, 

VOL.    I  257  17 


25 B  Mr.  Pope 

died  of  smallpox  on  February  i6,  1721,  while  his 
father  died  in  a  (so-called)  lethargic  fit  on  March  16, 
just  before  the  secret  committee  was  to  report  on 
his  case.  He  was  proved  to  have  received  a  bribe 
from  the  South  Sea  directors  of  ;^40,ooo,  and  his 
executors  were  compelled  to  refund  all  the  money 
he  had  made  since  December  i,  17 19. 

Pope  was  deeply  affected  by  the  loss  of  the 
younger  Craggs,  who  had  offered  him  a  pension 
and  shown  him  every  favour.  The  poet,  while 
refusing  the  pension,  had  consented  to  apply  to 
his  ministerial  friend  should  he  ever  be  in  want 
of  £^00.  Craggs  took  a  house  in  Twickenham 
in  the  summer  of  1720,  and  asked  Pope  to  find 
him  a  "  polite  scholar,"  by  whose  conversation  and 
instruction  he  might  improve  his  defective  education. 
Pope  recommended  his  own  friend  and  future 
colleague,  Elijah  Fenton,^  for  the  post,  and  in 
May    1720  had  written  to  Fenton  : 

"  I  am  now  commissioned  to  tell  you  that  Mr. 
Craggs  will  expect  you  on  the  rising  of  Parliament, 
which  will  be  as  soon  as  he  can  receive  you  in  the 
manner  he  would  receive  a  man  t^e  belies  lettres^ 
that  is,  tranquillity  and  full  leisure.  I  dare  say  your 
way  of  life,  which,  in  my  taste,  will  be  the  best 
in  the  world,  and  with  one  of  the  best  men  in 
the  world,  must  prove  highly  to  your  content- 
ment. And  I  must  add,  it  will  be  still  the  more 
a  joy  to   me,   as   I  shall  reap  a  peculiar  advantage 

^  Elijah  Fenton  (1683-1730).  He  published  some  poems  as 
early  as  1707,  wrote  a  fairly  successful  tragedy,  Mariamne,  pro- 
duced in  1723,  and  edited  Milton  and  Waller.  He  is  only 
remembered  now  through  his  collaboration  with  Pope  in  the 
translation  of  the  "  Odyssey." 


I 


*^  Epistle  to  James  Cra.ggs**  259 

from  the  good  I  shall  have  done  in  bringing  you 
together,  by  seeing  it  in  my  own  neighbourhood. 
Mr.  Craggs  has  taken  a  house  close  by  mine, 
whither  he  proposes  to  come  in  three  weeks.  In 
the  meantime  I  heartily  invite  you  to  live  with  me, 
where  a  frugal  and  philosophical  diet  for  a  time 
may  give  you  a  higher  relish  of  that  elegant  way 
of  life  you  will  enter  into  after." 

The  death  of  Craggs  put  an  end  to  this  arrange- 
ment, and  Pope  had  to  mourn  one  of  his  truest 
friends.  "  Ihere  never  lived  a  more  worthy  nature," 
he  wrote,  "  a  more  disinterested  mind,  and  more 
open  and  friendly  temper,  than  Mr.  Craggs.  A 
little  time,  I  doubt  not,  will  clear  up  a  character 
which  the  world  will  learn  to  value  and  admire 
when  it  has  none  such  remaining  in  it."  The 
friendship  between  the  minister  and  the  poet  is 
commemorated  by  Pope's  brief  "  Epistle  to  James 
Craggs,"  which  was  written  after  Craggs  was  made 
Secretary  of  State  for  War  in  171 7.  There  seems 
to  have  been  some  suggestion  that,  in  consequence 
of  his  promotion,  the  Secretary  would  be  ashamed 
of  his  literary  friend.  After  eulogising  honesty  and 
candour  in  the  opening  lines  of  the  "  Epistle,"  Pope 
exhorts  Craggs  to — 

Scorn  to  gain  a  friend  by  servile  ways, 
Nor  wish  to  lose  a  foe  these  virtues  raise ; 
But  candid,  free,  sincere,  as  you  began, 
Proceed — a  minister,  but  still  a  man. 
Be  not  (exalted  to  whate'er  degree) 
Ashamed  of  any  friend,  not  ev'n  of  me  : 
The  patriot's  plain,  but  untrod  path,  pursue  ; 
If  not,  'tis  I  must  be  ashamed  of  you. 


26o  Mr,  Pope 

There  is  a  gap  in  the    correspondence    between 
Pope  and  Swift  extending  from  1716  to  1721.     On 
January  10,  1721,  the  dean  addressed  a  long  letter, 
or    more    properly   manifesto,   to   his   friend,   which 
Pope  said  that  he  never  received,  and  it  is  possible 
that    it    was    never    sent.     At   this  time   Swift   was 
bitterly   discontented    with    his   position    in    Dublin, 
and  heartily  sick  of  his  retirement.      His  domestic 
affairs  had  been  embroiled  by  the  presence  in  Ireland 
of  poor  "Vanessa,"  ^  and  the  consequent  jealousy  of 
Stella,     Further,   he  had  got  into  trouble  with  the 
authorities  over  his  "  Proposal  for  the  use  of  Irish 
Manufactures,"  published  in  1720.     In  his  letter  to 
Pope,  Swift  describes  his  former  relations  with   the 
Whigs    and    Tories,    his    endeavour    to    serve    his 
country,  and  the  persecutions  to  which  he  had  been 
subjected,  and  gives  a  resume  of  his  political  creed. 
He   seems   to  have  desired   that   the   letter    should 
be    made    public    in    England,    either    through    the 
medium  of  print,  or  by  being  shown  to  influential 
persons  of  the  dominant  party.      It  is  evident  that 
he  had  not  yet  abandoned  the  hope  of  being  recalled, 
and  again  allowed  to  have  a  finger  in  the  political 
pie,    and    this  apologia  may  have  been  intended  to 
clear  the  way  for  the  desired  rapprochement.     A  few 
points  from  the  document  are  worth  quoting.     Swift 
reminds  his  friend  that  he  left  town  about  ten  weeks 
before  the  queen's  death,  and  retired  into  Berkshire. 
Almost    directly    after    the    downfiill    of   his    Tory 
friends  he   had  returned  to   Ireland,  where  he  had 
ever  since  remained  in  the  utmost  privacy, 

'  Esther  Vanhomrigh,  who  had  followed  Swift  to  Ireland,  and 
died  there  in  1723. 


Swift^s  Manifesto  261 

"  I  neither  know  the  names  nor  numbers  of  the 
royal  family  which  now  reigns,  further  than  the 
Prayer-book  informs  me.  1  cannot  tell  who  is 
Chancellor,  who  are  Secretaries,  nor  with  what 
nations  we  are  at  peace  or  war."  He  admits  that 
he  had  written  some  memorials  of  the  last  four 
years  of  Queen  Anne's  reign,  as  necessary  materials 
to  qualify  himself  for  the  office  of  Historiographer, 
which  was  then  designed  for  him.  But  as  it  was 
at  the  disposal  of  a  person  (the  Duke  of  Shrewsbury) 
who  was  lacking  in  steadiness  and  sincerity,  he  had 
disdained  to  accept  of  it.^  These  papers  he  had 
been  digesting  into  order,  one  sheet  at  a  time,  not 
daring  to  venture  any  further  lest  the  humour  of 
searching  and  seizing   papers  should  revive. 

"  I  have  written  in  this  kingdom,"  he  continues, 
"  a  discourse  to  persuade  the  wretched  people  to 
wear  their  own  manufactures  instead  of  those  from 
England.  This  treatise  soon  spread  very  fast,  being 
agreeable  to  the  sentiments  of  the  whole  nation, 
except  of  those  gentlemen  who  had  employments, 
or  were  expectants  ;  upon  which  a  person  in  great 
office  here  immediately  took  the  alarm."  ^ 

Swift  explains  that  he  formerly  delivered  his 
thoughts   very   freely,   but    never   affected    to    be  a 

1  This  is  inaccurate.  Swift  continued  to  solicit  the  office  until 
it  was  filled  up,  although  he  knew  that  it  was  at  the  disposal  of 
the  Duke  of  Shrewsbury. 

*  This  was  Lord  Chancellor  Middleton.  He  directed  the  Chief 
Justice  to  proceed  against  the  printer.  The  jury  brought  him  in 
not  guilty,  but  the  judge  sent  them  back  nine  times,  till,  wearied 
out,  they  left  the  matter  to  the  mercy  of  the  judge,  by  a  special 
verdict.  But  the  trial  of  the  verdict  was  postponed  from  one 
term  till  another  till  at  last  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  Lord-Lieutenant 
by  Swift's  interest,  granted  a  noli  prosequi. 


262  Mn  Pope 

councillor.  "  I  was  humbled  enough  to  see  myself 
so  far  outdone  by  the  Earl  of  Oxford  in  my  own 
trade  as  a  scholar,  and  too  good  a  courtier  not  to 
discover  his  contempt  of  those  who  would  be  men 
of  importance  out  of  their  own  sphere.  Besides, 
to  say  the  truth,  although  1  have  known  many 
great  ministers  ready  enough  to  hear  opinions,  yet 
I  have  hardly  seen  one  that  would  ever  condescend 
to  take  advice." 

Whatever  opportunities  his  four  years'  attendance 
on  the  Tories  had  given  him.  Swift  declares  that 
he  ought  to  find  quarter  from  the  other  party, 
for  many  of  whom  he  was  a  constant  advocate. 
Lord  Oxford  would  bear  witness  how  often  he 
(Swift)  had  pressed  him  in  favour  of  Addison, 
Congreve,  Rowe,  and  Steele.  Indeed,  it  was  a 
subject  of  raillery  among  the  ministers  that  he 
never  came  to  them  without  a  Whig  in  his  sleeve. 

"  I  would  infer  from  all  this,  that  it  is  with  great 
injustice  I  have  this  many  years  been  pelted  by 
your  pamphleteers,  merely  upon  account  of  some 
regard  which  the  queen's  last  ministers  were 
pleased  to  have  for  me.  ...  If  I  have  never  dis- 
covered by  my  words,  writings,  or  actions  any 
party  virulence  or  dangerous  designs  against  the 
present  powers  ;  ^  if  my  friendship  and  conversation 
were  equally  shown  among  those  who  liked  or 
disapproved  the  proceedings  then  at  Court,  and 
that  I  was  known  to  be  a  common  friend  of  all 
deserving  persons  of  the  latter  sort  when  they  were 

'  The  distinguishing  feature  of  Swift's  party  writings  was 
virulence.  Even  Bohngbroke  admitted  that  Swift  "exhaled  pro- 
fusely black,  corrosive  vapours." 


Proposed  Edition  of  Shakespeare       263 

in  distress,  I  cannot  but  think  it  hard  that  I  am 
not  suffered  to  run  quietly  among  the  common 
herd  of  people,  whose  opinions  unfortunately  differ 
from  those  which  lead  to  favour  and  preferment." 

As  for  his  political  creed,  he  had  always  declared 
himself  against  a  popish  successor  to  the  Crown  ; 
he  had  a  mortal  antipathy  to  standing  armies  ;  he 
"  adored "  the  wisdom  of  that  Gothic  institution 
which  made  Parliaments  annual  ;  and  he  abominated 
the  scheme  of  politics  which  set  up  a  moneyed 
interest  in  opposition  to  the  landed  interests,  con- 
ceiving that  the  possessors  of  the  soil  are  the  best 
judges  of  what  is  for  the  advantage  of  the  kingdom. 
These  were  some  of  the  sentiments  he  had  formerly 
held  ;  his  present  opinions  he  dared  not  publish, 
since,  however  orthodox  they  might  be  at  the  time 
of  writing,  they  might  become  criminal  enough  to 
bring  him  into  trouble  before  midsummer.  All 
he  could  reasonably  hope  to  accomplish  by  this 
letter  was  to  convince  his  friends  and  well-wishers 
that  he  had  been  neither  so  ill  a  subject  nor  so 
stupid  an  author  as  he  had  been  represented  by  the 
virulence  of  libellers,  who  had  fathered  dangerous 
principles  upon  him  which  he  had  never  maintained, 
and  insipid  productions  which  he  was  incapable  of 
writing. 

For  about  a  year  after  the  completion  of  the 
*'  Iliad  "  Pope  rested  on  his  Homeric  laurels,  but 
his  was  not  a  mind  to  remain  long  idle.  In  the 
course  of  this  year  (1721)  he  accepted  a  commission 
to  edit  a  new  edition  of  Shakespeare's  works,  for 
which  Lintot  was  to  pay  him  the  modest  sum 
of   ;^2i7    2j-.,    and    he    was    also    editing    Parnell's 


264  Mr.  Pope 

"Remains,"  for  which  he  received  £'^S-  •^^s 
leisure  was  still  spent  in  work  on  his  garden,  the 
five  acres  proving  an  endless  source  of  interest 
and  occupation.  Oii  May  i  he  wrote  to  Robert 
Digby  : 

"  Our  river  glitters  beneath  an  unclouded  sun, 
at  the  same  time  that  it  retains  the  verdure  of 
showers  ;  our  gardens  are  offering  their  first 
nosegays  ;  our  trees,  like  new  acquaintance  happily 
brought  together,  are  stretching  their  arms  to  meet 
each  other,  and  growing  nearer  and  nearer  every 
hour  ;  the  birds  are  paying  their  thanksgiving  songs 
for  the  new  habitations  I  have  made  for  them.  My 
building  rises  high  enough  to  attract  the  eye  and 
curiosity  of  the  passenger  from  the  river,  where, 
upon  beholding  a  mixture  of  beauty  and  ruin,  he 
inquires  what  house  is  falling,  or  what  church  is 
rising.  So  little  taste  have  our  common  Tritons 
of  Vitruvius,  whatever  delight  the  poetical  gods 
of  the  river  may  take  in  reflecting  on  their  streams 
my  Tuscan  porticoes  or  Ionic  pilasters." 

Pope  had  not  proceeded  far  with  his  Shakespearean 
editing  before  he  realised  that  he  had  undertaken 
the  work  in  too  light-hearted  a  spirit,  and  without 
due  regard  to  the  difficulties  of  the  task.  We  find 
him  writing  to  some  of  his  literary  friends  for 
advice  and  information,  but  it  does  not  appear  that 
he  received  much  outside  help.  Atterbury,  to  whom 
he  made  early  application,  replied  that  he  had 
found  time  to  read  some  parts  of  Shakespeare  which 
he  was  least  acquainted  with,  but  protested  that 
in  a  hundred  places  he  was  quite  unable  to  construe 
the   dramatist.      "  The    hardest    part    of  Chaucer," 


Proposed  Edition  of  Shakespeare       265 

he  adds,  "  is  more  intelligible  to  me  than  some  of 
these  scenes,  not  merely  through  the  faults  of  the 
edition,  but  the  obscurity  of  the  writer,  for  obscure 
he  is,  and  a  little  (not  a  little)  inclined  now  and 
then  to  bombast,  whatever  apology  you  may  have 
contrived  on  that  head  for  him.  There  are  allusions 
in  him  to  a  hundred  things  of  which  I  know  nothing 
and  can  guess  nothing.  I  protest  iEschylus  does 
not  want  a  comment  to  me  more  than  he  does. 
So  that  I  despair  of  doing  you  any  considerable 
service." 

Atterbury  was  one  of  the  few  friends  of  the  poet 
who  occasionally  treated  him  to  plain  speaking. 
From  his  enemies  Pope  was  accustomed  to  the 
foulest  abuse,  from  his  admirers  to  the  most  fulsome 
flattery.  But  the  Bishop  of  Rochester  spoke  his 
mind  with  candour  and  impartiality.  When  Pope 
sent  him  his  "  Reflections  on  Pastoral  Poetry," 
with  some  new  matter  inserted,  he  replied,  with 
refreshing  frankness,  "  In  good  earnest,  as  to  that 
wanton  way  of  ridiculing  serious  writers,  you  and 
I  differ."  In  returning  thanks  for  the  poetical 
epitaph  on  Mr.  Harcourt,^  he  remarks  that,  though 
he  could  like  some  of  the  verses  if  they  were  not 
Pope's,  yet  that,  as  they  were  his,  he  could  hardly 
like  any  of  them.  "  From  you,"  he  declares,  "  I 
expect  something  of  a  more  perfect  kind,  and  which, 
the  oftener  it  is  read,  the  more  it  will  be  admired. 
When  you  barely  exceed  other  writers,  you  fall 
much  beneath  yourself:   it  is  your  misfortune  now 

*  The  Hon.  Simon  Harcourt,  son  of  the  Lord  Chancellor 
Harcourt.  The  epitaph  is  inscribed  on  his  monument  in  the 
church  at  Stanton  Harcourt. 


id^  Mn  Pope 

to  write  without  a  rival,  and  to  be  tempted  by 
that  means  to  be  more  careless  than  you  would 
otherwise  be  in  your  composures." 

It  is  amazing  to  find  that,  in  the  spring  of  this 
year,  there  was  not  only  a  cessation  of  hostilities 
between  Pope  and  Dennis,  but  even  something 
in  the  nature  of  a  rapprochement.  In  April  Dennis 
published  two  volumes  of  "  Letters  "  by  subscription. 
Pope  subscribed  for  the  books,  and  Dennis  wrote 
(April  29)  to  tell  him  that  they  had  been  left  for 
him  at  Mr.  Congreve's  lodgings,  and  adds :  "  As 
most  of  those  letters  were  writ  during  the  time 
I  was  so  unhappy  to  be  in  a  state  of  war  with 
you,  I  was  forced  to  maim  and  mangle  at  least 
ten  of  them,  that  no  footsteps  might  remain  of 
that  quarrel."  Pope  replied  that  he  had  received 
the  books,  and  left  with  Mr.  Congreve  the  amount 
that  he  was  in  debt  to  Dennis.  "  I  look  upon 
myself  to  be  much  more  so,"  he  continues,  "  for 
the  omissions  you  have  been  pleased  to  make 
in  those  letters  in  my  favour,  and  sincerely  join 
with  you  in  the  desire  that  not  the  least  traces 
may  remain  of  that  difference  between  us,  which 
indeed  I  am  sorry  for."  Seven  years  later,  when 
Dennis  figured  in  "  The  Dunciad,"  this  incident 
was  recalled,  Dennis  declaring  that  Pope  had  sub- 
scribed as  a  proof  of  his  repentance,  and  Pope  as- 
serting that  Dennis  was  first  touched  with  repentance 
"  and  with  some  guineas." 

In  September  Pope  paid  his  annual  visit  to  Lord 
Bathurst  at  Cirencester.  He  wrote  thence  to 
Lady  Mary  Wortley  to  acknowledge,  with  becoming 
humility,  a  letter  in  which  she  had  praised  his  garden. 


Pamelas  ''Remains'*  267 

"  What  an  honour  is  it  to  my  great  walk,"  he 
exclaims,  "  that  the  finest  woman  in  the  world  can- 
not stir  from  it !  That  walk  extremely  well  answered 
the  intent  of  its  contriver  when  it  detained  her  there. 
But  for  this  accident,  how  had  I  despised  and  totally 
forgot  my  own  little  colifichies  in  the  daily  views 
of  the  noble  scenes,  opening  and  avenues  of  this 
immense  design  at  Cirencester."  In  the  name 
of  Lord  Bathurst,  he  invites  her  and  her  little 
daughter  to  journey  thither,  in  order  to  spare 
him  the  trouble  of  description.  For  lodging,  she 
need  be  under  no  manner  of  concern,  for  his 
lordship  invites  everybody  he  sees  to  stay  in  his 
house. 

On  October  2 1  Pope  wrote  to  Lord  Oxford  to 
ask  permission  to  dedicate  the  edition  of  Parnell's 
"  Remains  "  to  him,  with  "  a  paper  of  honest  verses." 
He  adds  the  somewhat  remarkable  statement  that 
"  It  is  the  only  dedication  I  ever  writ,  and  shall  be, 
whether  you  permit  it  or  not  :  ^  for  I  will  not  bow 
the  knee  to  a  less  man  than  my  Lord  Oxford,  and 
I  expect  to  see  no  greater  in  my  time."  This  letter 
was  accompanied  by  the  famous  "  Epistle  to  Robert, 
Earl  of  Oxford,"  beginning — 

Such  were  the  notes  thy  once-loved  poet  sung, 
Till  death  untimely  stopped  his  tuneful  tongue. 

It  is  difficult  to  resist  the  temptation  to  quote  the 
whole  of  this  splendid  tribute  to  a  dead  friend  and 
a    fallen    minister.     Whatever    his    real   opinion   of 

*  Pope  had  dedicated  "  The  Rape  of  the  Lock  "  to  Miss  Fermor, 
"  Windsor  Forest  "  to  Lord  Lansdowne,  and  his  translation  of  the 
"  Iliad  "  to  Congreve. 


268  Mr.  Pope 

Lord  Oxford,  Pope's  imagination  seems  to  have  been 
fired  by  the  statesman's  firmness  and  courage  in  the 
hour  of  trial.  He  told  Spence  that  "They  were 
quite  mistaken  in  his  [Lord  Oxford's]  temper,  who 
thought  of  getting  rid  of  him  by  advising  him  to 
make  his  escape  from  the  Tower.  He  would  have 
sat  out  the  storm,  let  the  danger  be  what  it  would. 
He  was  a  steady  man,  and  had  a  great  firmness  of 
soul,  and  would  have  died  unconcernedly  ;  or 
perhaps,  like  Sir  Thomas  More,  with  a  jest  in  his 
mouth."  ^ 

After   a   brief  lament   for   Parnell,  Pope  reminds 
Oxford  of  the  bygone  days  when — 

For  him  thou  oft  hast  bid  the  world  attend, 
Fond  to  forget  the  statesman  in  the  friend  ; 
For  Swift  and  him  despised  the  farce  of  State, 
The  sober  follies  of  the  wise  and  great ; 
Dexterous  the  craning,  fawning  crowd  to  quit, 
And  pleased  to  'scape  from  flattery  to  wit. 

Parnell  is  now  alike  careless  of  interest,  fame,  or 
fate,  and — 

Perhaps  forgets  that  Oxford  e'er  was  great ; 
Or,  deeming  meanest  what  we  greatest  call, 
Beholds  thee  glorious  only  in  thy  fall. 

*  On  another  occasion  Pope  told  Spence  that  Lord  Oxford  was 
not  a  very  capable  minister,  and  had  a  good  deal  of  negligence  into 
the  bargain.  "  He  used  to  send  trifling  verses  from  the  Court  to 
the  Scriblerus  Club  almost  every  day,  and  would  come  and  talk 
idly  with  them  almost  every  night,  even  when  his  all  was  at 
stake.  He  was  muddled  in  his  thoughts,  and  obscure  in  his 
manner  of  delivering  them.  He  talked  of  business  in  so  confused 
a  manner  that  you  did  not  know  what  he  was  about,  and  everything 
he  went  to  tell  you  was  in  the  epic  way,  for  he  always  began  in 
the  middle." 


'^  Epistle  to  Lord  Oxford '*  269 

If  aught  can  touch  the  Immortals,  cries  the  poet,  it 
is  a  soul  like  Oxford's — 

A  soul  supreme,  in  each  hard  interest  tried, 
Above  all  fraud,  all  passion  and  all  pride, 
The  rage  of  power,  the  blast  of  public  breath, 
The  lust  of  lucre,  and  the  dread  of  death. 

Then  follows  the  noble  and  moving  conclusion  : 

In  vain  to  deserts  thy  retreat  is  made  ; 
The  Muse  attends  thee  to  thy  silent  shade  : 
'Tis  hers  the  brave  man's  latest  steps  to  trace, 
Rejudge  his  acts,  and  dignify  his  grace. 
When  Interest  calls  off  all  her  sneaking  train, 
And  all  the  obliged  desert,  and  all  the  vain  ; 
She  waits,  or  to  the  scaffold,  or  the  cell, 
When  the  last  lingering  friend  has  bid  farewell. 
Ev'n  now  she  shades  thy  evening  walk  with  bays 
(No  hireling  she,  no  prostitute  to  praise) ; 
Ev'n  now,  observant  of  the  parting  ray, 
Eyes  the  calm  sunset  of  thy  various  day  ; 
Through  Fortune's  cloud  one  truly  great  can  see, 
Nor  fears  to  tell  that  Mortimer  is  he. 

In  those  Whig-ridden  days  it  must  have  taken 
some  courage  to  address  such  lines  to  a  Tory  ex- 
minister,  who  had  been  in  danger  of  paying  for 
his  politics  with  his  head.  Lord  Oxford  seems 
to  have  been  deeply  moved  and  gratified — as  well 
he  might  be — by  this  tribute,  so  different  in 
character  from  the  perfunctory  fulsomeness  of  the 
customary  dedication.  He  wrote  from  Brampton 
Castle  on  November  6  to  express  the  great  pleasure 
that  it  gave  him  to  see  that  Mr.  Pope  preserved  an 
old  friend  in  his  memory,  since  it  is  always  agreeable 
to  be  remembered  by  those  we  value. 

"  But   then,  how   much  shame   did  it  cause  me," 


lyo  Mr*  Pope 

he  proceeds,  "  when  I  read  your  very  fine  verses 
enclosed  ?  My  mind  reproached  me  how  far  short 
I  came  of  what  your  great  friendship  and  dehcate 
pen  would  partially  describe  me.  You  ask  my  con- 
sent to  publish  it  :  to  what  straits  does  this  reduce 
me  ?  I  look  back  indeed  to  those  evenings  I 
have  usefully  and  pleasantly  spent  with  Mr.  Pope, 
Mr.  Parnell,  Dean  Swift,  the  doctor,  etc.  I  should 
be  glad  the  world  knew  you  admitted  me  to  your 
friendship,  and,  since  your  affection  is  too  hard  for 
your  judgment,  I  am  contented  to  let  the  world 
know  how  well  Mr.  Pope  can  write  upon  a  barren 
subject." 


CHAPTER    XXVI 

1722 

Proposed  Translation  of  the  **  Odyssey  ** — Com' 
mitment  of  Atterbury — Flirtation  with  Judith 
Cowper  ' 

WITH  a  view,  presumably,  to  recouping  himself 
for  his  losses  over  the  South  Sea  Bubble, 
Pope  now  undertook  to  make  an  English  version  of 
the  "  Odyssey."  From  the  first  this  seems  to  have 
been  an  uncongenial  task,  and  it  was  felt  by  the 
poet's  friends  that  he  was  wasting  his  genius  upon 
what  was  little  more  than  glorified  hack-work.  It 
was  arranged,  however,  that  his  drudgery  should 
be  lightened  by  the  assistance  of  his  friends,  Broome 
and  Fenton.  Broome  had  already  been  of  service 
in  translating  the  notes  of  Eustathius  for  the 
"  Iliad,"  and  had  refused  to  accept  any  payment 
for  his  labour.  Fenton  was  known  to  be  a  sound 
classical  scholar  and  a  writer  of  correct,  though 
undistinguished,  verse.  The  share  that  each  took 
in  the  translation  was  to  be  carefully  concealed. 

"  I  must  once  more  put  you  in  mind,"  wrote 
Pope  to  Broome  on  February  10,  "that  the  whole 
success  of  this  affair  will  depend  upon  your  secrecy. 

271 


272  Mr.  Pope 

There  is  nothing,  you  may  be  sure,  I  will  not  do 
to  make  the  whole  as  finished  and  spirited  as  I  am 
able,  by  giving  the  last  touches.  You  do  not  need 
any  man  to  make  you  a  good  poet.  You  need  no 
more  than  what  every  good  poet  needs — time  and 
diligence,  and  doing  something  every  day." 

This  was  a  particularly  busy  year,  since  Pope  was 
not  only  making  arrangements  for  the  translation  of 
the  "  Odyssey,"  and  annotating  Shakespeare,  but  he 
was  also  preparing  an  edition  of  the  works  of  John 
Sheffield,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  who  died  in  1721. 
In  a  letter  to  Caryll  he  explains  that,  he  is  very 
busy  in  doing  justice  to  a  far  greater  poet  than 
himself  (Shakespeare).  "  Besides  this,  I  have  the 
care  of  overlooking  the  Duke  of  Buckingham's 
papers,  and  correcting  the  press.  That  will  be  a 
very  beautiful  book,  and  has  many  things  in  it  you 
will  be  particularly  glad  to  see  in  relation  to  some 
former  reigns." 

In  June  Atterbury  accepted  an  invitation  to  spend 
a  few  days  at  Twickenham,  where  Pope  promised 
him  good  air,  solitary  groves,  and  diet  sufficiently 
sparing  to  make  him  imagine  himself  one  of  the 
fathers  of  the  desert.  The  bishop  was  not  to  bring 
his  coach,  since,  if  he  desired  to  pay  any  visits,  his 
host  possessed  a  roomy  chariot,  besides  the  little 
chaise  in  which  he  had  been  jokingly  compared  to 
"Homer  in  a  nutshell."  While  at  Twickenham 
Atterbury  suggested  that  Pope  should  do  for  Milton 
what  he  had  already  done  for  Isaiah,  Chaucer,  and 
Homer,  that  is,  correct  and  modernise  him.  The 
bishop  desired  that  "  Samson  Agonistes  "  should  be 
reviewed  and  polished,  since  the  piece  was  capable, 


Correspondence  with  Atterbury        273 

in  his  opinion,  of  being  "  improved  "  into  a  perfect 
model  and  standard  of  tragic  poetry  ! 

Although  Atterbury  had  formerly  rebuked  his 
friend  tor  a  tendency  to  ridicule  his  more  serious 
contemporaries,  he  was  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of 
"The  Character  of  Atticus,"  which,  since  the  death 
of  Addison  in  17 19,  had  been  freely  handed  round 
in  manuscript.  On  February  26  the  bishop  writes 
to  beg  a  complete  copy  of  the  famous  lines,  which 
had  been  solicited  by  "  another  lord."  No  small 
piece  of  Pope's  writing,  he  says,  had  ever  been 
so  much  sought  after,  and  it  had  pleased  every 
man,  without  exception,  to  whom  it  had  been  shown. 
"  Since  you  now  know  where  your  real  talent  lies," 
continues  Atterbury,  forgetful  of  his  former  pro- 
test, "  I  hope  you  will  not  suffer  that  talent  to 
be  unemployed.  For  my  part,  I  should  be  so 
glad  to  see  you  finish  something  of  that  kind  that 
I  could  be  content  to  be  a  little  sneered  at  in  a 
line  or  so,  for  the  pleasure  I  should  have  in  reading 
the  rest." 

The  "  handing  round  "  process  had  the  usual 
result.  A  year  later  the  fragment  found  its  way 
into  a  miscellaneous  volume  entitled,  "  Cythereia  ; 
or,  Poem  of  Love,  Gallantry,  and  Intrigue."  It  was 
published  side  by  side  with  an  "  Answer,"  in  which 
Addison's  character  is  defended.  The  "Answer" 
was  dedicated  to  his  widow.  Lady  Warwick.  Poor 
as  it  is,  a  few  lines  may  be  quoted  here  : 

When  soft  expressions  covert  malice  hide, 
And  pitying  Satire  cloaks  o'erweening  pride  ; 
When  ironies  reversed  right  virtue  show, 
And  point  the  way  true  merit  we  may  know  j 

VOL.    I  18 


274  Mr.  Pope 

When  Self-conceit  just  hints  indignant  Rage 
Showing  its  wary  caution  to  engage, — 
In  mazy  wonder  we  astonished  stand, 
Perceive  the  stroke  but  miss  th'  emittent  hand. 

•  •  •  •  • 

O  Pope,  forbear  henceforth  to  vex  the  Muse 
Whilst  forced,  a  task  so  hateful  she  pursues  ; 
No  more  let  empty  words  to  rhymes  be  brought, 
And  fluent  sounds  atone  for  want  of  thought. 
Still  Addison  shall  live,  and  pregnant  Fame 
Teem  with  eternal  triumphs  of  his  name  ; 
Still  shall  his  country  hold  him  more  endeared, 
Loved  by  this  age  and  by  the  next  revered. 
Or  if,  from  good  advice  you  turn  your  ear, 
Nor  friendly  words,  imparted,  timely  hear. 
Exert  your  utmost  energy  of  spite, 
And  as  each  envious  hint  arises,  write  : 
So  shall  his  deathless  glory  never  cease. 
And  you,  by  lessening,  will  his  fame  increase. 

Pope  started  on  his  rambles  earlier  than  usual 
this  year,  for  in  June  we  find  him  staying  with 
the  Digbys  at  Sherborne,  whence  he  sent  a  long 
account  of  the  place  to  Martha  Blount.  Probably 
he  went  to  Cirencester  during  the  summer,  but, 
contrary  to  his  usual  custom,  he  was  at  Twickenham 
in  September.  In  August  Atterbury  had  been 
committed  to  the  Tower  on  the  charge  of  complicity 
in  the  Jacobite  plots  which  had  recently  come  to 
light.  Pope  refused  to  believe  in  his  guilt,  which, 
however,  was  fully  proved.  Treasonable  correspon- 
dence was  found  among  the  bishop's  papers,  and 
there  was  evidence  that  a  conspiracy  was  being 
hatched  to  land  a  large  force  of  foreign  troops 
under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of  Ormonde.  On 
September  1 1  Pope  wrote  to  Gay,  who  had  gone  to 
Bath  to  be  cured  of  a  colic  : 


Flirtation  with  Judith  Cowper  275 

"  Pray  tell  Dr.  Arbuthnot  that  even  pigeon-pies 
and  hogs'-puddings  are  thought  dangerous  by  our 
governors,  for  those  that  have  been  sent  to  the 
Bishop  of  Rochester  are  opened  and  profanely  pried 
into  at  the  Tower.  It  is  the  first  time  dead  pigeons 
have  been  suspected  of  carrying  intelligence.  To 
be  serious,  you  and  Mr.  Congreve  and  the  doctor, 
if  he  has  not  dined,  will  be  sensible  of  my 
concern  and  surprise  at  the  commitment  of  that 
gentleman,  whose  welfare  is  as  much  my  concern 
as  any  friend  I  have.  I  think  myself  a  most 
unfortunate  wretch.  I  no  sooner  love,  and,  upon 
knowledge,  fix  my  esteem  to  any  man,  but  he 
either  dies,  like  Mr.  Craggs,  or  is  sent  to  prison, 
like  the  bishop.  God  send  him  as  well  as  I  wish 
him,  manifest  him  to  be  as  innocent  as  I  believe 
him,  and  make  all  his  enemies  know  him  as  well 
as  I  do,  that  they  may  love  him  and  think  of  him 
as  well  !  " 

About  this  time  Pope  made  the  acquaintance  of  a 
clever  and  pretty  girl,  Judith  Cowper,  with  whom 
he  carried  on  a  kind  of  intellectual  flirtation  until 
her  marriage.  Judith  was  the  daughter  of  Spencer 
Cowper,  brother  of  the  Lord  Chancellor,  and  Pope 
had  probably  met  her  at  Bennington,  the  Hertford- 
shire home  of  his  friend,    Mrs.  Cassar.^     Although 

1  Daughter  of  Ralph  Freeman  of  Aspeden  Hall,  Herts,  and 
wife  of  Charles  Caesar,  M.P.  He  had  been  Treasurer  of  the 
Navy  in  Queen  Anne's  reign.  Mrs.  Caesar  was  a  woman  o 
literary  enthusiasms.  She  was  the  friend  and  correspondent  of 
Swift,  Jervas,  and  Lord  Orrery,  as  well  as  of  Pope.  She  entertained 
the  dean's  \\\.&x2ixy  protegee,  Mrs.  Barber,  when  that  lady  paid  a 
visit  to  London.  Mrs.  Caesar's  granddaughter  married  Sir  Charles 
Cottrell  Dormer  of  Rousham,  where  the  C^sar  correspondence, 
and  some  of  the  Caesar  portraits,  are  preserved. 


276  Mr.  Pope 

only  just  twenty-one,  Judith  had  already  published 
one  or  two  poems,  "The  Progress  of  Poetry  "  and 
verses  on  the  death  of  Mr.  Hughes.  The  former 
contains  a  flattering  allusion  to  Pope,  beginning  : 

High  on  the  radiant  light  see  Pope  appears 
With  all  the  fire  of  youth  and  strength  of  years ; 
Where'er  supreme  he  points  the  nervous  line 
Nature  and  art  in  bright  conjunction  shine. 

A  correspondence,  half-gallant,  half-literary,  was 
carried  on  between  the  pair  during  the  winter  of 
1722-3.  Pope  addressed  Miss  Cowper  in  the 
hyperbolical  style  that  he  kept  for  his  women 
correspondents,  and,  being  an  economical  person, 
he  made  certain  words  and  phrases  do  double  duty. 
Judith  had  sent  him  some  verses  to  correct,  and  he 
repHed  that,  having  considered  them  seriously,  he 
found  he  could  mend  them  very  little,  and  that  only 
in  trifles.  He  was  anxious  she  should  realise  that 
he  was  much  better,  or  at  least  less  faulty,  as  a 
man  and  a  friend  than  as  a  wit  and  a  poet.  Judith, 
like  Lady  Mary  Wortley,  had  been  sitting  for 
her  portrait,  and  Pope,  who  was  now  a  little  dis- 
appointed in  his  fine-lady  friend,  and  more  than 
a  little  alarmed  at  her  wit,  sent  Miss  Cowper  some 
lines  in  which  the  two  women  are  compared  : 

Though  sprightly  Sappho  force  our  love  and  praise, 

A  softer  wonder  my  pleased  soul  surveys — 

The  mild  Erinna,  blushing  in  her  bays. 

So,  while  the  sun's  broad  beam  yet  strikes  the  sight, 

All  mild  appears  the  moon's  more  sober  light ; 

Serene,  in  virgin  majesty  she  shines, 

And  unobserved  the  glaring  sun  declines. 


Flirtation  with  Judith  Cowper         277 

In  another  letter  to  Judith  (November  5)  the 
poet  enclosed  the  famous  lines  about  his  garden, 
which  Lady  Mary  Wortley  believed  to  be  inspired 
by  her   own  charms  :  ^ 

What  are  the  falling  rills,  the  pendant  shades, 
The  morning  bowers,  the  evening  colonnades, 
But  soft  recesses  for  th'  uneasy  mind 
To  sigh  unheard  in  to  the  passing  wind  ? 
So  the  struck  deer,  in  some  sequestered  part, 
Lies  down  to  die  (the  arrow  in  his  heart) ; 
There  hid  in  shades,  and  wasting  day  by  day. 
Inly  he  bleeds,  and  pants  his  soul  away. 

"If  these  lines  want  poetry,"  comments  Pope, 
"  they  do  not  want  sense.  God  Almighty  long 
preserve  you  from  a  feeling  of  them  !  " 

Judith  had  made  some  inquiry  about  the  progress 
of  the  Shakespeare  edition,  and  he  explains  that  the 
book  is  already  a  quarter  printed,  and,  though  the 
number  of  emendations  is  very  great,  he  has  never 
followed  his  own  conjectures,  but  has  kept  to  such 
amendments  as  were  authorised  by  the  old  editions. 
"  I  only  desire  you  to  observe,"  he  concludes,  "  by 
what    natural,    gentle   degrees  I    have    sunk   to  the 

^  In  the  spring  of  this  year  Lady  Mary  had  sent  the  above 
verses  (slightly  varied)  with  the  six  extra  lines,  afterwards  sup- 
pressed, to  her  sister,  Lady  Mar,  at  Paris.  She  says  that  the 
verses  were  addressed  to  Mr.  Gay,  who  had  congratulated  Pope 
on  having  finished  his  house.  She  has  stifled  the  verses  in 
London,  and  begs  they  may  die  the  same  death  at  Paris.  The 
suppressed  lines  run  : 

Ah,  friend,  'tis  true— this  truth  you  lovers  know — 
In  vain  my  structures  rise,  my  gardens  grow  ; 
In  vain  fair  Thames  reflects  the  double  scenes 
Of  hanging  mountains  and  of  sloping  greens  : 
Joy  lives  not  here  ;  to  happier  seats  it  flies, 
And  only  lives  where  W casts  her  eyes. 


278  Mr.  Pope 

humble  thing  I  now  am  :  first  from  a  pretending 
poet  to  a  critic  ;  then,  to  a  low  translator  ;  lastly, 
to  a  mere  publisher." 

The  flirtation  presently  entered  upon  a  more 
ardent  phase.  Miss  Cowper  had  resolved  to  write 
no  more  poetry.  But  for  this  assurance  Pope 
declared  that  it  would  be  too  dangerous  to  corre- 
spond with  a  lady  whose  very  first  sight  and  writing 
had  had  too  agitating  an  effect  upon  a  man  like 
himself.  He  was  accustomed  to  fine  sights  and 
fine  writings,  and  had  been  dull  enough  to  sleep 
quietly  after  all  he  had  seen  and  read  till  Miss 
Cowper  broke  in  upon  his  stupidity  and  totally 
destroyed  his  indifference.  In  a  paltry  hermitage 
at  Twickenham  there  lived  a  creature  altogether 
unworthy  of  her  memory,  because  he  wished  that 
he  had  never  seen  her  or  her  poetry.  "  You  have 
spoiled  him  for  a  solitaire  ^  and  a  book  all  the  days 
of  his  life,  and  put  him  into  such  a  condition  that 
he  thinks  of  nothing,  and  inquires  of  nothing  but 
a  person  who  has  nothing  to  say  to  him,  and  has 
left  him  for  ever  without  hope  of  ever  again 
regarding  or  pleasing  or  entertaining  him,  much 
less  of  seeing  him.  He  has  been  so  mad  with  the 
idea  of  her  as  to  steal  her  picture,  and  passes 
whole  days  in  sitting  before  it,  talking  to  himself 
and  (as  some  people  imagine)  making  verses  ;  but 
it  is  no  such  matter,  for  as  long  as  he  can  get 
any  of  hers  he  can  never  turn  his  head  to  his 
own — it  is  so  much  better  entertained." 

Mn  a  letter  to  Lady  Mary  dated  August  i8,  1716,  Pope  had 
said  that  her  conversation  spoiled  him  for  a  solitaire. 


CHAPTER    XXVII 

1723 

The  Duke  of  Buckingham's  **  Works  '* — -The; 
Trial  and  Banishment  of  Atterbury — De^ 
pression  of  Spirits — Correspondence  with 
Judith  Cowper 

T^HE  issuing  of  the  proposals  for  the  subscription 
^  to  the  "  Odyssey "  was  postponed  in  conse- 
quence of  the  outcry  against  Pope's  edition  of  the 
Duke  of  Buckingham's  "  Works."  After  a  royal 
licence  had  been  obtained  to  protect  the  copyright, 
it  was  discovered  that  the  book  contained  passages 
favourable  to  the  Pretender.  The  edition  was 
seized,  and  the  treasonable  parts  cut  out.  Pope 
was  censured  for  having  admitted  the  objectionable 
passages,  but  his  defence  was  that  he  had  never 
looked  into  the  papers !  This  was  very  likely  true, 
but  it  does  not  say  much  for  his  view  of  the  responsi- 
bilities of  an  editor.  In  any  case,  he  thought  it 
prudent  to  "  lie  low  "  till  the  storm  had  blown  over.^ 

^  There  is  a  curious  passage  about  the  Duchess  of  Buckingham 
and  Pope  in  a  letter  from  Dr.  WiUiam  Stratford,  of  Christ  Church, 
Oxon,  to  Edward,  Lord  Harley.  The  letter,  which  is  preserved 
among  the  Portland  MSS.,  is  dated  June  2,  1722,  and  the  passage 
runs : 

"  Roffe  is  making  pretences  to  the  good  Duchess  of  Bucking- 
ham. ...   I   do  not  doubt  but  he  is   capable   of  such  a  thing, 

279 


2  8o  Mr.  Pope 

On  February  i6  Pope  wrote  to  Lord  Carteret  to 
vindicate  his  innocence,  and  observed  in  the  course 
of  his  defence  :  "  I  take  myself  to  be  the  only 
scribbler  of  my  time  of  any  degree  of  distinction 
who  never  received  any  places  from  the  establish- 
ment, any  pension  from  a  Court,  or  any  presents 
from  a  ministry."  He  wrote  to  Lord  Harcourt 
in  much  the  same  strain,  and  actually  suggested 
that  it  might  be  as  well  for  him  to  resign  the 
translation  of  the  "  Odyssey  "  to  Tickell !  "  I  fancy, 
in  general,"  he  remarks,  "  my  appearing  cool  in 
this  matter,  and  taking  upon  me  a  kind  of  dignity 
while  I  am  abused  and  slandered,  will  have  no 
ill  effect  in  promoting  it." 

The  failing  health  of  his  mother,  the  drudgery 
of  his  work  on  the  "  Odyssey,"  and  the  imprison- 
ment of  his  friend  Atterbury,  sufficiently  account  for 
the  depression  that  appears  in  Pope's  letters  at  this 
time.  The  Bishop  of  Rochester  was  preparing  his 
defence  for  the  trial,  which  was  to  be  held  in  May. 
On  April  lo  he  wrote  from  the  Tower  to  thank 
Pope  for  all  his  friendship,  past  and  present. 

and  I  believe  he  has  caressed  Pope  so  much  of  late  with  a  view 
of  making  use  of  him  on  this  occasion,  but  I  know  not  what  to 
say  as  to  the  success.  If  I  consider  the  lady  and  her  character, 
I  should  think  it  impossible  !  Yet  she  dined  with  him  last 
Monday  at  Bromley.  The  young  duke,  the  last  duke's  natural 
daughter,  Pope,  and  Chamberlain  came  along  with  her.  This, 
in  one  of  her  cjuality,  and  who  knows  so  well  how  to  keep  her 
state,  was  an  odd  condescension  to  one  who  had  not  then  been 
a  widower  a  full  month,  if  she  designs  no  further  favour." 

By  Roffe,  Dr.  Stratford  means  the  Bishop  of  Rochester  (RofFen) 
who  was  a  new-made  widower.  The  duchess  was  a  natural 
daughter  of  James  II.,  and  she  was  plotting  with  the  bishop 
in  the  interests  of  the  Pretender,  whom  she  afterwards  persuaded 
to  invest  Atterbury  with  the  principal  management  of  his  affairs. 


The  Trial  of  Atterbury  281 

"  Give  my  faithful  service  to  Dr.  Arbuthnot," 
he  continues,  "  and  thanks  for  what  he  sent  me, 
which  was  much  to  the  purpose,  if  anything  can 
be  said  to  be  to  the  purpose  in  a  case  that  is  already 
determined.  Let  him  know  my  defence  will  be 
such  that  neither  my  friends  need  blush  for  me, 
nor  will  my  enemies  have  great  occasion  of  triumph, 
though  sure  of  the  victory.  I  shall  want  his  advice 
before  I  go  abroad  in  many  things.  But  I  question 
whether  I  shall  be  permitted  to  see  him,  or  any- 
body but  such  as  are  absolutely  necessary  towards 
the  despatch  of  my  private  affairs.  If  so,  God 
bless  you  both  !  and  may  no  part  of  the  ill 
fortune  that  attends  me  ever  pursue  either  of 
you  !  I  know  not  but  that  I  may  call  upon  you 
at  my  hearing  to  say  somewhat  about  my  way  of 
spending  my  time  at  the  Deanery,  which  did 
not  seem  calculated  towards  managing  plots  and 
conspiracies." 

Pope  replied  in  a  lengthy  and  grandiloquent 
letter.  For  a  long  time  past,  he  declares,  he  has 
thought  and  felt  for  nothing  but  his  friend.  The 
greatest  comfort  he  has  is  an  intention  to  have 
attended  the  bishop  in  his  exile,  a  project  to  which 
he  has  brought  his  mother  to  consent.  Pope  had 
the  passion  of  the  stay-at-home  for  imaginary 
journeys.  He  was  always  planning  to  visit  Swift 
in  Ireland,  or  Bolingbroke  in  France,  or  Lady 
Mary  Wortley  in  Italy,  or  Lord  Peterborough  in 
whatever  quarter  of  the  globe  that  erratic  nobleman 
happened  to  be.  Mrs.  Pope,  though  in  many  ways 
a  tie,  was  really  a  convenience  when  her  son  was 
pressed   to  carry   out   his  adventurous  projects.     It 


2  82  Mr.  Pope 

was  always  his  mother's  health  that  kept  him  at 
home,  a  more  picturesque  hindrance  than  the  fact 
that  he  was  a  bad  sailor. 

After  urging  Atterbury  to  think  of  Tully,  Bacon, 
and  Clarendon,  the  disgraced  part  of  whose  lives 
was  the  most  enviable,  Pope  concludes  :  "  I  never 
shall  suffer  to  be  forgotten  (nay,  to  be  but  faintly 
remembered)  the  honour,  the  pleasure,  the  pride 
I  must  ever  have  in  reflecting  how  frequently 
you  have  delighted  me,  how  kindly  you  have 
distinguished  me,  how  cordially  you  have  advised 
me  !  In  conversation  and  study  I  shall  always  want 
you  and  wish  for  you  ;  in  my  most  lively  and  in 
my  most  thoughtful  hours  I  shall  equally  bear  about 
me  the  impressions  of  you  ;  and  perhaps  it  will 
not  be  in  this  life  only  that  I  shall  have  cause  to 
remember  and  acknowledge  the  friendship  of  the 
Bishop  of  Rochester." 

The  bishop's  trial  began  on  May  8,  in  the 
House  of  Lords.  Pope  was  called  to  give  evidence 
as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  bishop  spent  his 
time  while  at  the  Deanery,  but  it  does  not  appear 
that  the  poet  distinguished  himself  as  a  witness. 
"  I  never  could  speak  in  public,"  he  told  Spence, 
"  and  I  don't  believe  that,  if  it  was  a  set  thing,  I 
could  give  an  account  of  any  story  to  twelve  friends 
together,  though  I  could  tell  it  to  any  three  of 
them  with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure.  When  I  was 
to  appear  for  the  Bishop  of  Rochester,  in  his  trial, 
though  I  had  but  ten  words  to  say,  and  that  on 
a  plain  point  (how  that  bishop  spent  his  time  when 
1  was  with  him  at  Bromley)  I  made  two  or  three 
blunders  in  it  :  and  that,  notwithstanding  the  first 


From  a  mezzotint  uii^'iMi  :t:^  Lj  J.  buiojii  After  a  painting  by  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller,  17 
FRANCIS   ATTERBURY,    BISHOP   OF   ROCHESTER. 


The  Trial  of  Atterbury  283 

row  of  lords  (which  was  all  I  could  see)  were  mostly 
of  my  acquaintance." 

Though  the  bishop  made  an  impressive  and 
impassioned  speech  in  his  own  defence,  the  Bill  of 
Pains  and  Penalties  was  passed  by  a  majority 
of  forty,  and  Atterbury  went  into  exile.  It  is 
characteristic  of  Pope  that,  in  his  view,  the  most 
important  part  of  this  historical  trial  was  the  fame 
that  he  himself  would  gain  through  having  appeared 
as  a  witness.  He  wrote  to  congratulate  Atterbury 
on  his  noble  defence,  and  to  prophesy  with  what 
lustre  the  bishop's  innocence  would  shine  out  to 
other  ages  : 

"  I  know  perfectly  well,"  he  adds,  *'  what  a  share 
of  credit  it  will  be  to  have  appeared  on  your  side, 
or  to  have  been  called  your  friend.  I  am  far 
prouder  of  that  word  you  publicly  spoke  of  me 
than  of  anything  I  have  yet  heard  of  myself  in 
my  whole  life.  Thanks  be  to  God  that  I,  a  private 
man,  concerned  in  no  judicature,  and  employed  in 
no  public  cause,  have  had  the  honour,  in  this  great 
and  shining  incident  (which  will  make  the  first 
figure  in  the  history  of  this  time),  to  enter  as 
it  were  my  protest  to  your  innocency,  and  my 
declaration  of  your  friendship." 

We  hear  no  more  of  the  proposed  attendance 
on  the  bishop  to  France,  but  Pope  declared  that, 
if  permission  could  be  gained  to  correspond  with 
the  exile,  he  would  leave  off  all  other  writing  and 
apply  his  pen  wholly  to  the  amusement  and  comfort 
of  his  friend. 

It  is  evident,  from  a  letter  to  Lord  Harcourt, 
that   Pope   had  been  much  alarmed,  when  cited  as 


284  Mr.  Pope 

a  witness  in  the  Atterbury  trial,  lest  he  should 
be  questioned  about  his  religion,  and  also  that  he 
had  decided  to  give  an  evasive  reply. 

"  I  resolve,"  he  explained,  '*  to  take  any  oppor- 
tunity of  declaring  (even  upon  oath)  how  different 
I  am  from  a  reputed  Papist  is.  1  could  almost 
wish  I  were  asked  if  I  am  not  a  Papist.  Would 
it  be  proper  in  such  a  case  to  reply,  that  I  don't 
perfectly  know  the  import  of  the  word,  and  would 
not  answer  anything  that  might,  for  ought  I  know, 
be  prejudicial  to  me  during  the  Bill  against  such, 
which  is  impending.  But  that  if  to  be  a  Papist 
be  to  profess  and  hold  many  such  tenets  of  faith  as 
are  ascribed  to  Papists,  I  am  not  a  Papist ;  and  if 
to  be  a  Papist  be  to  hold  any  that  are  averse  to^  or 
destructive  of  the  present  Government,  King,  or  Con- 
stitution, I  am  no  Papist ^ 

A  Bill  was  then  in  preparation  for  raising 
^100,000  by  a  tax  on  the  Catholics  over  and  above 
the  double  land-tax  to  which  they  were  already 
subject.  In  a  letter  to  Caryll  Pope  said  that  he 
saw  nothing  but  melancholy  prospects  for  his  friends 
and  himself.  If  this  Bill  passed  he  should  lose 
a  good  part  of  his  income,  and  was  therefore 
providing  an  annuity  "  to  enable  me  to  keep  myself 
that  man  of  honour  which  I  trust  in  God  ever 
to  be." 

The  renewal  of  Pope's  correspondence  with  Swift 
in  the  August  of  this  year  shows  the  poet  still  in 
a  melancholy  mood.^     His  chief  solace,  he  declares, 

*  In  a  letter  to  Broome,  written  about  the  same  time,  Pope 
says :  "  My  body  is  sick,  my  soul  is  troubled,  my  pockets  are 
empty,  my  trees  are  withered,  my  grass  is  burned." 

I 


From  a  mezzotint  engraving  by  G.  -White.  1732,  after  a  painting  by  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller. 
ALEXANDER    TOPE,    1 722. 


Depression  of  Spirits  285 

is  the  society  of  Lord  Bolingbroke,  who  had  just 
returned  from  exile.^ 

"  It  is,  sure,  my  most  particular  ill  fate,"  he  adds, 
"  that  all  those  I  have  most  loved,  and  with  whom 
I  have  most  lived,  must  be  banished.  After  both 
of  you  left  England,  my  constant  host  was  the 
Bishop  of  Rochester.  Sure  this  is  a  nation  that 
is  cursedly  afraid  of  being  overrun  with  too  much 
poHteness,  and  cannot  regain  one  great  genius  but 
at  the  expense  of  another.  I  tremble  for  Lord 
Peterborough,  whom  I  now  lodge  with  ;  he  has 
too  much  wit,  as  well  as  courage,  to  make  a  solid 
general,  and  if  he  escapes  being  banished  by  others, 
I  fear  he  will  banish  himself." 

The  merry  vein  in  which  the  dean  first  knew 
him  is  now  sunk  into  a  turn  of  reflection,  and  he 
has  acquired  a  quietness  of  mind  which  by  fits 
improves  into  cheerfulness.  He  has  no  aversions 
except  to  knaves,  and  those  who  consort  with  them. 
The  top  pleasure  of  his  life  is  one  he  learnt  from 
Swift,  namely,  how  to  use  the  freedoms  of  friendship 
with  men  much  his  superiors. 

*'  I  have  carefully  avoided  all  intercourse  with 
poets  and  scribblers,  unless  when  by  great  chance 
I  find  a  modest  one.  By  these  means  I  have  had 
no  quarrel  with  any  personally,  and  none  have  been 

*  Bolingbroke  had  been  dismissed  by  the  Pretender  and 
pardoned  by  George  I.,  the  death-sentence  being  cancelled.  But 
he  was  still  debarred  from  his  title  and  estate.  He  had  come 
over  to  try  and  get  these  disabilities  removed,  and  had  bribed 
the  Duchess  of  Kendal  with  ^ii,ooo.  In  April,  1725,  Walpole 
was  compelled,  through  the  duchess's  influence,  to  bring  in  a 
Bill  to  restore  Bolingbroke's  estate,  but  his  restoration  to  the 
House  of  Lords  was  successfully  resisted. 


286  Mr.  Pope 

enemies  but  who  were  also  strangers  to  me  :  and 
as  there  is  no  great  need  of  eclaircissement  with  such, 
whatever  they  writ  or  said  I  never  retaliated,  not 
only  never  seeming  to  know,  but  often  really  never 
knowing,  anything  of  the  matter." 

This  philosophical  turn  of  mind  was  probably 
borrowed  from  Bolingbroke,  who  enclosed  a  letter 
to  the  dean  in  which  he  declares  that  no  glut 
of  study  will  ever  cast  him  back  into  the  hurry  of 
the  world,  and  he  only  regrets  that  he  should  have 
fallen  so  late  into  a  studious  course  of  life.  Reflec- 
tion and  habit  have  rendered  the  world  indifferent  to 
him,  while  his  enemies,  in  driving  him  out  of  party, 
have  driven  him  out  of  cursed  company  ;  and, 
in  stripping  him  of  titles,  rank,  estate,  and  such 
trinkets,  have  given  him  that  which  no  man  could 
be  happy  without. 

Swift  was  much  too  clear-sighted  to  be  taken  in 
by  the  professions  of  a  man  who  was  moving 
heaven  and  earth  to  recover  the  trinkets  of  titles, 
estates,  and  power.  In  his  reply  to  the  joint  letter 
he  says :  "  I  have  no  very  strong  faith  in  you 
pretenders  to  retirement.  You  are  not  of  an  age 
for  it,  nor  have  gone  through  either  good  or  bad 
fortune  enough  to  go  into  a  corner  and  form 
conclusions  de  contemptu  niundi  et  fugd  sceculi ; 
unless  a  poet  grows  weary  of  too  much  applause, 
as  ministers  do  of  too  much  weight  of  business." 

The  flirtation  by  correspondence  with  Judith 
Cowper  continued  throughout  the  greater  part  of 
this  year,  though  by  August  Pope  had  reached 
the  somewhat  ominous  stage  of  apologising  for 
delay  in   answering   the  lady's  letters.     But  at  this 


Correspondence  with  Judith  Cowper     287 

time  he  is  resolved,  he  says,  to  retire  from  the 
world  and  devote  himself  to  the  only  business  he 
is  good  for.  The  -lives  of  the  great  are  divided 
between  idleness  and  vanity,  and  in  each  of  them 
poetical  fiddlers  make  but  part  of  their  pleasure  or 
their  equipage, 

"  They  have  put  me  of  late  upon  a  task,  before 
I  was  aware,  which  I  am  sick  and  sore  of;  and 
yet  engaged  in  honour  to  some  persons  whom  I 
must  neither  disobey  nor  disappoint  (I  mean  two 
or  three  in  the  world  only)  to  go  on  with  it.  .  .  . 
You  will  easily  find  I  am  talking  of  my  translating 
the  *  Odyssey '  by  subscription  ;  which  looks,  it  must 
needs  look,  to  all  the  world  as  a  design  of  mine 
both  upon  fame  and  money,  when  in  truth  I  believe 
I  shall  get  neither  ;  for  the  one  I  go  about  without 
any  stomach,  and  the  other  I  shall  not  go  about 
at  all." 

In  September  of  this  year  Miss  Cowper  wrote 
some  verses  on  the  Bower  at  Bennington  which  were 
much  admired  by  her  friends.  Mrs.  Caesar  begged 
for  a  copy  to  send  to  Pope,  and  Miss  Cowper 
replied  in  the  style  of  the  polite  letter-writer  :  ^ 

^  This  letter  is  from  the  unpublished  MS.  in  the  Caesar 
Correspondence.  It  is  dated  from  Hertingfordbury,  and  contained 
a  copy  of  the  lines  on  the  Bower,  which  run  as  follows  : 

In  Tempe's  shades  the  living  lyre  was  strung, 
And  the  first  Pope  (immortal  Phoebus)  sung. 
These  happy  shades,  where  equal  beauty  reigns, 
Bold  rising  hills,  slant  vales,  and  far-stretched  plains. 
The  grateful  verdure  of  the  waving  woods. 
The  soothing  murmur  of  the  falling  floods, 
A  nobler  boast,  a  higher  glory  yield, 
Than  that  which  Phoebus  stamped  on  Tempe's  field  : 
All  that  can  charm  the  eye  or  please  the  ear 
Says,  Harmony  itself  inhabits  here. 


288  Mr,  Pope 

"  I  should  think  myself  very  happy  if  my 
obedience  to  your  commands  could  give  you  but 
part  of  the  pleasure  the  receiving  of  them  made 
me  feel.  Where  I  esteem  and  value  I  must  be 
sincere,  and  as  a  proof  I  have  sense  enough  to  do 
both  in  relation  to  you,  I  will  freely  own  self-interest 
has  a  great  share  in  the  regard  I  must  always  profess 
for  Mrs.  C^sar  :  when  I  do,  therefore,  anything 
you  are  pleased  to  say  will  oblige  you,  you  are 
still  under  no  obligation  to  me  ;  'tis  only  in  the 
most  sensible  manner  pleasing  and  obliging  myself, 
and  giving  at  the  same  time  the  greatest,  as  well 
as  the  only,  proof  in  my  power  to  give,  that  I 
have  judgment." 

There  is  a  good  deal  more  in  the  same  strain, 
but  it  will  be  sufficient  to  quote  the  all-important 
postscript  : 

"  If  Mr.  Madan  is  still  at  Bennington,  pray  let 
him  know  we  have  just  received  information  that 
the  Lumber  House,  by  a  sudden  and  lamentable 
fire,  is  burnt  down  to  the  ground.  Though  great 
care  was  used,  it  seems  they  have  only  been  able 
to  save  a  violin,  a  powder-horn,  and  Captain 
Strudwick." 

Mrs,  Coesar  at  once  forwarded  the  verses  to  Pope, 
who  replied  on  September   12  : 

"  For  God's  sake,  madam,  do  not  worry  my  soul 
out  of  this  miserable  body  with  making  it  too 
proud  to  stay  in  it.  The  verses  you  sent  me  will 
certainly  send  me  to  Phoebus  and  the  gods  :  and 
then,  for  ever  adieu  to  ye  ! 

"  Tell  Mrs.  Cowper  she  does  very  ill  by  me  to 


Correspondence  with  Judith  Cowper     289 

send  me  so  many  tokens  of  heavenly  favour  and 
never  afford  me  one  beatifical  vision.  Her  friends 
here  are  well.  So,  madam,  are  yours — I  mean  my 
mother  and  myself,  whom  you  honour  too  much 
by  mentioning. 

"  I  obey  you  twelve  times  more,  ^  and  am   always 
Mr.   Caesar's  and.   Madam, 

"  Yours,  etc.. 


"A.  Pope."  2 


On  September  26  Pope  wrote  to  Judith  about 
a  certain  poetical  sketch  he  has  seen  on  the  Bower 
at  Bennington,  and  urges  her  to  write  something  in 
the  descriptive  way,  mixed  with  vision  and  moral,  like 
the  pieces  of  the  old  Provencal  poets,  which  abound 
with  fancy,  and  are  the  most  amusing  scenes  in  nature. 

"  I  have  long  had  an  inclination  to  tell  a  fairy- 
tale," he  continues  ;  "  the  more  wild  and  exotic 
the  better.  Therefore,  a  vision,  which  is  confined 
to  no  rules  of  probability,  will  take  in  all  the 
variety  and  luxuriancy  of  description  you  will, 
provided  there  be  an  apparent  moral  to  it.  I  think 
one  or  two  of  the  '  Persian  Tales '  would  give  one 
hints  for  such  an  invention.  ...  If  you  did  but 
at  leisure  form  descriptions  from  objects  in  nature 
itself  which  struck  you  as  most  lively,  I  would 
undertake  to  find  a  tale  that  should  bring  them 
all  together,  which  you  will  think  an  odd  under- 
taking, but,  in  a  piece  of  this  fanciful  and  imaginary 
nature,   I  am  sure  is  practicable." 

'  Mrs.  Csesar  had  probably  asked   for   twelve  more  forms   for 
subscriptions  to  the  "  Odyssey." 
2  From  the  unpublished  MS.  in  the  Cassar  Correspondence. 

VOL.    I  19 


290  Mr*  Pope 

Anything  more  unpromising  than  a  moral  descrip- 
tive fairy-tale  can  hardly  be  conceived,  but  that 
Pope  had  really  entertained  the  idea  is  proved  by 
his  telling  Spence,  many  years  later,  that  "  after 
reading  the  '  Persian  Tales  '  (and  I  had  been  reading 
Dryden's  '  Fables  '  just  before  them)  I  had  some 
thought  of  writing  a  Persian  Fable  in  which  I 
would  have  given  full  loose  to  description  and 
imagination.  It  would  have  been  a  very  wild  thing 
if  I  had  executed  it,  but  it  might  not  have  been 
unentertaining." 

Judith  Cowper  did  not  seize  upon  the  oppor- 
tunity of  collaborating  with  the  first  poet  of  the 
age,  for  her  thoughts  were  turned  towards  a  romance 
of  real  life.  On  December  7  of  this  year  she  was 
married  to  the  Mr.  Madan  of  her  postscript,  who 
was  a  neighbour  at  Hertingfordbury,^  and,  though 
she  published  some  verses  after  her  marriage,  her 
flirtation  with  the  poet  came  to  an  untimely  end. 

'  Martin  Madan,  M.P.  for  Wootton  Basset,  and  Groom  of 
the  Bedchamber  to  Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales.  Their  son  was 
the  Rev.  Martin  Madan,  who  won  a  rather  unenviable  notoriety 
by  publishing  a  book  in  defence  of  polygamy,  called  "Thelyph- 
thora"  (1780).  His  cousin,  Cowper  the  poet,  replied  to  it  with 
"  Anti-Thelyphthora  :  a  Tale  in  Verse." 


CHAPTER    XXVIII 

1724 

The    Subscription  for  the  ^*  Odyssey  ^^ — Corre^ 
spondence  with  Lord  Bolingbroke 

THE  publishing  arrangements  for  the  translation 
of  the  "  Odyssey  "  were  not  made  so  easily  as 
those  for  the  Iliad.  Tonson  refused  to  contract  for 
the  copy,  but  an  agreement  was  come  to  with 
Lintot,  who  paid  ^600  and  suppHed  the  subscribers' 
copies  free.  The  work  was  to  be  brought  out  in 
five  volumes  at  a  guinea  a  volume.  Lintot  made 
little  or  nothing  by  his  venture,  but  it  is  estimated 
that  Pope,  after  paying  Broome  ^500^  for  trans- 
lating eight  books,  and  Fenton  ;^2oo  for  four  books, 
cleared  about  _^3,700.^ 

As  before,  the  poet's  friends  rallied  round  him, 
and  not  only  subscribed  themselves,  but  worked 
hard  to  secure  subscribers.  When  the  "  Proposals  " 
were  to  be  printed,  Pope  wrote  to  Lord  Harley  to 
ask  how  many  sets  were  to  be  set  down  under  his 
name  in  the  printed  list  of  subscribers.  Mr.  Walpole 
and  Lord  Townshend  had  each   taken  ten  sets,  but 

^  Broome  was  also  allowed  the  subscriptions  that  he  got  from 
his  own  friends.     These  amounted  to  ^70. 

2  Carruthers  estimates  Pope's  profits  at  not  more  than  ^2,885. 

291 


292  Mr,  Pope 

Pope  explained  that  he  had  put  down  the  Duchess 
of  Buckingham  for  five,  and  suggested  that  he 
should  put  down  the  same  number  for  his  lord- 
ship. Harley  replied  that  he  would  take  ten 
sets,  his  wife  five,  and  his  daughter  Peggy  ^ 
one.  At  five  guineas  the  set  this  family  subscrip- 
tion would  therefore  amount  to  eighty  guineas, 
and  entail  finding  house-room  for  eighty  quarto 
volumes. 

Mrs.  Caesar  was  almost  as  eager  a  subscription- 
hunter  as  John  Caryll  himself  In  the  Cassar  Corre- 
spondence there  are  several  little  notes  about  the 
great  business.  Thus,  on  April  23  Pope  writes  :  "  I 
obey  you  in  sending  five  more  of  my  receipts  ;  few 
people  obey  so  readily  as  those  who  are  rewarded 
for  their  obedience,  which  I  find  I  am  by  you  much 
above  my  merits."  And  again,  on  July  22  :  "  It  is  no 
new  thing  for  a  poet  to  be  obliged  to  Mrs.  Cassar. 
I  therefore  do  as  you  order  me.  I  beg  you  to 
accept  a  vile  print  which  I  promised  you  at  Lord 
Harley's.  I  will  soon  have  the  honour  of  sending 
you  a  better." 

In  the  Caesar  copy  of  the  "  Odyssey  "  at  Rousham 
is  pasted  a  little  note  to  the  lady,  in  which  Pope  says  : 
"  You  will  see  by  the  enclosed  I  have  obeyed  you 
in  some  articles,  as  to  Lord  Stratford,  Lady  Sarah, 
etc.  I  took  another  liberty  with  your  own  name, 
which  you  knew  nothing  of,  nor  1  dare  say  would 
have  expected  ;  and  have  made  a  star  of  Mrs. 
Caesar  as  well  as  of  Mrs.  Fermor.^     If  anybody  asks 

^  Lady  Margaret,  afterwards  the  "  good  "  Duchess  of  Portland. 
^  An  allusion  to  the  end  of  "The  Rape  of  the  Lock."     Belinda's 
curl  became  a  constellation. 


The  Subscription  for  the  "  Odyssey  **     293 

you  the  reason  of  this,  quote  to  'em  this  verse  of 
Virgil  : 


"  Processit  Caesaris  Astrum. 


I  am  daily  in  hopes  of  waiting  on  you  when  you 
are  in  town.  .  .  ."  Mrs.  Cassar's  name  is  starred  in 
the  printed  list  of  subscribers,  and  is  also  printed  in 
capitals — the  only  one  thus  honoured. 

Pope  was  particularly  anxious  that  Broome  should 
preserve  a  rigid  silence  about  the  number  of  books 
that  each  partner  had  translated,  since  the  least 
breath  of  the  truth  would  prejudice  the  town  and 
spoil  the  subscription.  "  I  do  not  doubt,"  he  re- 
marked in  one  letter,  "  but  I  shall  have  some  merit 
in  advancing  your  fame  to  its  just  pitch.  The 
public  is  both  an  unfair  and  a  silly  judge,  unless  it 
be  led  or  trepanned  into  justice." 

Broome,  however,  would  "  still  be  talking,"  for 
he  was  immensely  proud  of  his  connection  with  the 
leading  poet  of  his  time.  Pope  stated  in  his  "  Pro- 
posals "  that,  though  he  was  the  undertaker  of  the 
translation,  he  had  engaged  assistants  to  aid  him  in 
the  work  ;  but  he  carefully  refrained  from  stating 
the  amount  of  help  that  he  had  received.  Although, 
as  will  be  seen,  he  afterwards  claimed  to  have 
translated  seven  books  that  were  actually  the  work 
of  Broome  and  Fenton,  he  plumed  himself  upon  his 
honourable  and  generous  conduct.  He  also  con- 
trived to  prove,  to  his  own  satisfaction,  that  by 
concealing  Broome's  share  in  the  work  he  was  actu- 
ally advancing  his  friend's  reputation.  In  the  course 
of  a  discussion  on  this  point,  he  wrote  to  the  simple- 


294  Mn  Pope 

minded   Rector  of  Stuston  in   a   perfect   ecstasy   of 
self-approval  : 

"  To  open  my  mind  to  you  freely  as  a  Christian, 
and  talk  as  to  a  divine,  I  protest,  in  the  sight  of 
Him  to  whom  I  owe  any  talents  I  have,  I  am  as 
far  above  the  folly  of  being  vain  of  those  I  have 
as  I  should  be  above  the  baseness  of  arrogating  to 
myself  those  I  have  not."  One  good-natured  action 
or  one  charitable  intention  was,  in  his  opinion,  of 
more  merit  than  all  the  rhyming,  jingling  faculties 
in  the  world.  Indeed,  he  thought  it  more  desirable 
to  gratify  a  private  friend  in  his  desire  of  a  character 
this  way  than  to  advance  his  own,  which  he  could 
never  be  proud  of,  when  he  considers  how  vast  a 
share  of  popular  admiration  proceeds  from  ignorance. 

Bolingbroke  had  returned  to  France  at  the  end  of 
1723,  but  he  kept  up  a  friendly  correspondence  with 
Twickenham.  He,  like  Lord  Oxford,  regretted  that 
the  poet  should  devote  his  time  and  talents  to  the 
more  or  less  mechanical  task  of  translating.  On 
February  1 8  he  wrote  a  long  and  interesting  letter 
to  Pope,  in  the  course  of  which  he  urged  his  friend 
to  "  compose,"  and  not  to  look  upon  his  translations 
of  Homer  as  the  chief  work  of  his  life.  "  Prelude 
with  translations,  if  you  please,"  he  exclaims,  "  but 
after  translating  what  was  writ  three  thousand  years 
ago,  it  is  incumbent  upon  you  that  you  write, 
because  you  are  able  to  write,  what  will  deserve  to 
be  translated  three  thousand  years  hence  into 
languages  as  yet  perhaps  unformed." 

It  was  Pope's  duty,  according  to  Bolingbroke,  to 
help  to  spread  and  fix  his  own  language.  The 
French  and  Italians  had  more  lessons  of  luxury  to 


Correspondence  with  Lord  Bolingbroke     295 

give  than  the  English,  but  we  were  then  their 
masters  in  learning.  The  philosophers  of  the  Con- 
tinent were  obliged  to  learn  English,  and  the 
mathematicians  might  have  been  under  the  same 
necessity  if  Sir  Isaac  Newton  had  not  saved  them 
the  trouble  by  writing  in  Latin.  But  a  language 
which  was  designed  to  spread,  must  recommend 
itself  by  poetry,  by  eloquence,  by  history. 

"  I  believe,"  continues  Bolingbroke,  "  England 
has  produced  as  much  genius  as  any  country.  Why, 
then,  is  our  poetry  so  little  in  request  among 
strangers  ?  Several  reasons  may  be  given,  and  this 
certainly  as  the  most  considerable,  that  we  have  not 
one  original  great  work  of  that  kind  wrote  near 
enough  to  perfection  to  pique  the  curiosity  of  other 
nations,  as  the  epic  poetry  of  the  Italians,  and  the 
dramatic  poetry  of  the  French  pique  ours.  Elo- 
quence and  history  are,  God  knows,  at  the  lowest 
ebb  imaginable  among  us.  The  different  styles  are 
not  fixed,  the  bar  and  the  pulpit  have  no  standard, 
and  our  histories  are  gazettes,  ill-digested  and  worse 
writ.  ...  In  short,  excellent  writings  can  alone 
recommend  a  language,  and  contribute  to  the  spread- 
ing of  it.  No  man  will  learn  English  to  read 
Homer  or  Virgil.  Whilst  you  translate,  therefore, 
you  neglect  to  propagate  the  English  tongue  ;  and 
whilst  you  do  so,  you  neglect  to  extend  your  own 
reputation." 

The  letter  concludes  with  allusions  to  Swift  and 
Voltaire  which  are  not  without  interest.  Swift,  at 
this  time,  suffered  from  morbid  fears  of  daggers, 
halters,  and  gibbets,  which,  he  believed,  were  pre- 
pared for  him  by  the  party  in  power.     Arbuthnot 


296  Mr.  Pope 

compared  him  to  Sancho  Panza,  who  clung  to  a 
broom-bush  all  night,  thinking  that  a  precipice 
yawned  beneath  him,  and  found,  when  daylight 
broke,  that  he  was  within  two  inches  of  the  ground. 
Bolingbroke  remarks  that  Swift  had  not  enough 
dissipation  to  divert  his  spleen,  and  adds  :  "  Those 
black,  corrosive  vapours  which  he  exhaled  so  pro- 
fusely formerly  in  the  open  air  have  been  long  pent 
up  in  a  cloister,  and  he  is  become  the  martyr  of 
that  humour  which  was  given  him  for  the  punish- 
ment of  others." 

Bolingbroke  had  just  been  reading  'The  Death 
of  Mariamne  by  his  friend  Voltaire.  He  found 
in  it  the  art  and  delicacy  of  Racine,  with  a  spirit 
of  poetry  which  was  never  possessed  in  the  same 
degree  by  either  Racine  or  Corneille.  Voltaire  had 
expressed  his  intention  of  introducing  himself  to 
Pope  when  he  visited  England,  and  hoped  that  the 
Muses  would  answer  for  him.^  In  his  reply  Pope 
says  that  he  has  just  been  reading  "  La  Ligue  " 
(the  title  under  which  the  "  Henriade "  was  first 
published  in  1723)  and  criticises  it  very  favourably, 
remarking  that  the  author  is  not  less  a  poet  for 
being  a  man  of  sense,  as  Seneca  and  his  nephew  were. 

"  Do  not  smile,"  he  continues,  "when  I  add  that 
I  esteem  him  for  that  honest  principled  spirit  of 
religion  which  shines  through  the  whole,  and  from 
whence,  unknown  as  I  am  to  M.  Voltaire,  I  con- 
clude him  at  once  a  freethinker  and  a  lover  of 
quiet  ;  no  bigot,  but  yet  no  heretic  ;  one  who 
honours   authority  and    national    sanctions    without 

1  Voltaire  made  Pope's  acquaintance  during  his  stay  in  England 
from  1726  to  1729. 


Correspondence  with  Lord  Bolingbroke    297 

prejudice  to  truth  or  charity  ;  one  who  has  studied 
controversy  less  than  reason,  and  the  Fathers  less 
than  mankind  ;  in  a  word,  one  worthy,  from  his 
rational  temper,  of  that  share  of  friendship  and 
intimacy  with  which  you  honour  him." 

With  regard  to  his  own  work.  Pope  explains 
that  he  does  not  translate  Homer  as  a  great  task, 
but  as  an  easy  one.  He  has  begun  to  think  more 
of  comfort  and  happiness  than  of  fame,  and  "  To 
write  well,  lastingly  well,  immortally  well,  must 
not  one  be  prepared  to  endure  the  reproaches  of 
men,  want,  and  much  fasting — nay,  martyrdom  in 
its  cause  ?  It  is  such  a  task  as  scarce  leaves  a  man 
time  to  be  a  good  neighbour,  a  useful  friend — nay, 
to  plant  a  tree,  much  less  to  save  his  soul."  As 
for  the  present  state  of  literature  in  England,  Pope 
points  out  that  a  State  divided  into  various  factions 
and  interests  occasions  an  eternal  swarm  of  bad 
writers.  "  Some  of  these  will  be  encouraged  by 
the  Government  equally,  if  not  superiorly,  to  the 
good  ones,  because  the  latter  will  rarely,  if  ever, 
dip  their  pens  for  such  ends.  And  these  are  sure 
to  be  cried  up  and  followed  by  one  half  of  the 
kingdom,  and  consequently  possessed  of  no  small 
degree  of  reputation.  Our  English  style  is  more 
corrupted  by  the  party  writers  than  by  any  other 
cause  whatever.  They  are  universally  read,  and 
will  be  read  and  approved,  in  proportion  to  their 
degree  of  merit,  much  more  than  any  other  set 
of  authors  in  any  science,  as  men's  passions  and  in- 
terests are  stronger  and  surer  than  their  tastes  and 
judgments." 

Lord  Oxford  died  on  May  21,  and  was  succeeded 


298  Mr.  Pope 

by  his  son  Edward.  On  June  i  Pope  wrote  to 
Mrs.  Caesar,  who  was  an  Intimate  friend  of  Lord 
and  Lady  Oxford  : 

"  I  know  you  to  be  sincere  in  your  concern 
for  the  loss  of  this  great  man,  and  therefore  you 
will  believe  me  so.  The  degree  of  friendship  with 
which  he  honoured  me,  though  I  will  not  call 
it  a  great  one,  is  one  I  shall  never  forget.  I 
believe  we  shall  always  concur  in  our  concerns 
and  satisfactions,  as  well  as  in  our  esteem  or  dis- 
esteem  of  men  and  manners.  The  world  is  not 
worth  living  in  if  all  that  are  good  in  it  leave  it  for 
a  better.  .  .  .  Pray  tell  Mrs.  Madan  that  I  sit 
down  by  the  river  and  weep  till  she  returns  ;  and 
when  they  bid  me  sing,  I  reply.  How  can  J  sing 
when  she  is  in  a  strange  land  ?  ''  ^ 

Pope  was  laid  up  during  this  spring  with  an 
intermittent  fever,  and.  in  June  he  went  to  Dorset- 
shire for  a  change.  On  June  15  he  wrote  a 
birthday  letter  to  Martha  Blount,  in  which  he 
expressed  his  regret  at  having  to  leave  home  just 
as  he  had  fancied  they  were  to  begin  to  live  together 
in  the  country.^  In  this  letter  we  find  the  first 
intimation  of  Pope's  impatience  at  the  restrictions 
imposed  on  his  intercourse  with  Martha  by  the  fact 
that  she  was  living  with  her  family.  "  Wherever  I 
wander,"  he  remarks,  "one  reflection  strikes  me: 
I  wish  you  were  as  free  as  I  ;  or  at  least  had  a  tie 
as  tender  and  as  reasonable  as  mine  to  a  relation 
that  as  well  deserved  your  constant  thought,  and  to 

^  From  the  unpublished  MS.  in  the  Caesar  Correspondence. 
^  The  Blounts  had  taken  a  house  for  the  summer  months  at 
Petersham. 


Illness  of  Mrs.  Pope  299 

whom  you  would  always  be  pulled  back  (in  such  a 
manner  as  I  am)  by  the  heart-strings."  He  adds  that 
he  has  never  been  well  since  he  set  out,  but  she  is 
not  to  let  his  mother  know  it.  On  the  other  hand, 
since  Mrs.  Pope  probably  does  not  send  a  true 
account  of  her  own  health  to  him,  he  commissions 
Patty  to  report  progress." 

By  July  the  poet  was  back  at  Twickenham,  much 
recovered  in  health,  and  very  busy  laying  out  a  new 
garden.  In  September  he  was  preparing  to  start 
on  his  usual  round  of  visits,  and  had  accepted 
invitations  to  stay  with  the  Duchess  of  Buckingham 
at  Leighs,  and  the  new  Lord  Oxford  at  Wimpole. 
Mrs.  Pope,  however,  was  taken  dangerously  ill 
towards  the  end  of  the  month,  and  her  son  was 
obliged  to  give  up  his  visits.  P^or  the  next  eight 
or  nine  weeks  he  devoted  himself  to  nursing 
his  mother,  and  by  the  end  of  the  year  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  her  restored  to  her  usual  degree 
of  health. 


CHAPTER    XXIX 

1725 
The  Edition  of  Shakespeare 

T  N  March  of  this  year  the  first  three  volumes  of 
'^  the  "  Odyssey  "  were  published  ;  in  April  the 
edition  of  Shakespeare  made  its  appearance  ;  while, 
in  the  course  of  the  summer,  the  famous  Grotto 
was  finished.  Of  the  three  works,  the  Grotto  was 
the  only  unqualified  success.  Subscribers  to  the 
*'  Odyssey  "  were  of  opinion  that  they  received 
small  value  for  their  money.  People  complained 
that  the  paper  was  bad,  the  margin  narrow,  the 
type  old,  and  the  poetry  journey-work.  When  it 
became  known  what  a  large  share  of  the  translation 
had  been  done  by  obscure  assistants,  the  note  of 
dissatisfaction  grew  louder    and   more  shrill. 

Pope's  edition  of  Shakespeare  has  generally  been 
passed  over  by  his  biographers  as  a  "  regrettable 
incident,"  but  the  work  that  he  put  into  it,  whether 
for  good  or  evil,  deserves  more  careful  considera- 
tion. Nicholas  Rowe  had  brought  out  an  edition 
of  Shakespeare  in  1709,  but  it  was  recognised,  even 
at  that  date,  that  his  editorial  task  was  performed 
in  the  most  perfunctory  fashion.  The  growing  de- 
mand  for   Shakespeare's  dramas,  and  the  gradually 

300 


The  Edition  of  Shakespeare  301 

increasing  comprehension  of  his  genius,  tempted 
Tonson  to  speculate  in  a  new  and  costly  edition 
of  the  plays.  It  was  characteristic  of  a  publisher 
that  he  should  imagine  one  great  poet  to  be  the 
ideal  editor  of  another  and  far  greater  poet.  No 
expense  was  spared  in  the  production.  The  edition 
was  published  in  six  sumptuous  quarto  volumes  at 
a  guinea  each.  Though  Pope  was  paid  only 
^217  1 2 J.  for  his  share  in  the  work,  it  was  com- 
monly believed,  by  his  enemies  at  least,  that  he 
received  a  part  of  the  profits  from  the  subscriptions. 

From  the  Preface,  which  was  long  regarded  as 
a  model  of  its  kind,  we  gather  what  had  been 
Pope's  aims  when  he  undertook  the  task,  and  from 
the  work  itself  we  may  discover  how  far  he  carried 
out  those  aims.  He  enjoyed  superior  opportunities 
to  Rowe,  since  he  had  the  folios  of  1623  and  1632 
at  his  disposal,  as  well  as  the  quarto  editions  of 
the  plays.  Probably  these  were  borrowed  from 
the  private  libraries  of  some  of  his  book-collecting 
friends.  He  professed  to  have  carefully  collated 
the  texts  of  the  various  early  editions,  but  it  is 
clear,  from  internal  evidence,  that  he  had  done 
nothing  of  the  kind. 

"  I  have  discharged  the  dull  duty  of  an  editor," 
writes  Pope  in  his  Preface,  "  to  my  best  judgment, 
with  more  labour  than  I  expect  thanks,  with  a 
religious  abhorrence  of  all  innovation,  and  without 
any  indulgence  to  my  private  sense  of  conjecture. 
The  various  readings  are  fairly  put  in  the  margin, 
so  that  every  one  may  compare  them,  and  those 
I  have  preferred  into  the  text  are  constantly  ex  fide 
codicum  upon  authority.     The  alterations  or  additions 


302  Mr.  Pope 

which  Shakespeare  himself  made  are  taken  notice 
of  as  they  occur.  Some  suspected  passages  which 
are  excessively  bad  .  .  .  are  degraded  to  the  bottom 
of  the  page,  with  an  asterisk  referring  to  the  places 
of  their  insertion.  The  scenes  are  marked  so  dis- 
tinctly that  every  removal  of  place  is  specified, 
which  is  more  necessary  in  this  author  than  any 
other,  since  he  shifts  them  more  frequently  :  and 
sometimes,  without  attending  to  this  particular,  the 
reader  would  have  met  with  obscurities.  The  more 
obsolete  or  unusual  words  are  explained.  Some 
of  the  most  shining  passages  are  distinguished  by 
commas  in  the  margin  ;  and  where  the  beauties 
lay,  not  in  particular  but  in  the  whole,  a  star  is 
prefixed  to  the  scene." 

It  has  commonly  been  supposed  that  Pope  be- 
stowed little  labour  on  this  edition,  but  as  a  matter 
of  fact  he  seems  to  have  devoted  a  great  deal  of 
time  and  trouble  to  the  editorial  task,  which  he 
had  undertaken  in  happy  ignorance  of  his  lack  of 
qualifications  for  such  work.  He  did  not  possess 
the  necessary  knowledge  of  Elizabethan  literature, 
dramatic  or  otherwise,  he  was  wanting  in  the 
industry  of  the  critical  scholar,  and  he  had  little 
or  no  conscience  where  verbal  accuracy  was  con- 
cerned. Contrary  to  his  professions  in  his  Preface, 
he  constantly  indulged  in  private  conjecture,  often 
ill-founded,  rarely  put  the  various  readings  in  the 
margin,  made  thousands  of  changes  on  his  own 
authority,  and  he  left  many  obsolete  words  un- 
explained, for  the  excellent  reason  that  he  had  no 
idea  of  their  meaning.  The  passages  that  did  not 
commend   themselves    to   his    own    individual    taste 


The  Edition  of  Shakespeare  303 

he  printed  at  the  bottom  of  the  page,  on  the 
ground  that  they  were  probably  the  interpolations 
of  the  players — a  class  for  which  he  had  felt  the 
strongest  dislike  ever  since  his  collision  with  Colley 
Gibber.  But  the  majority  of  his  changes,  more 
especially  of  the  unacknowledged  changes,  were 
made  in  the  measure.  He  desired  that  Shakespeare, 
like  Homer,  should  talk  good  English,  and  that 
his  lines  should  scan.  The  metre  was,  in  his  eyes, 
more  important  than  the  sense,  and,  if  he  had  had 
the  courage,  he  would  probably  have  reduced  all 
Shakespeare's  verse  to  the  same  dead  level  of 
correct  monotony. 

However,  some  virtues  must  be  conceded  to  him. 
He  replaced  certain  passages  that  had  been  dropped 
out  of  earlier  editions,  and  he  made  some  happy 
emendations.  For  example,  we  owe  him  one  shining 
beauty.      In  the  lines — 

Oh  !  it  came  o'er  my  ear  like  the  sweet  south 
That  breathes  upon  a  bank  of  violets. 

Pope  substituted  "  south  "  for  *'  sound,"  which  was 
the  accepted  reading  in  his  day.  Again,  it  must 
be  owned  that  some  of  his  attempts  at  mending 
the  metre,  where  he  does  not  interfere  with  the 
sense,  might  meet  with  approval  from  all  but  rabid 
upholders  of  the  original  text.  Thus,  in  Measure 
for  Measure,  Isabella's  lines  were  changed  from — 

There  have  I  made  my  promise,  upon  the 
Heavy  middle  of  the  night  to  call  upon  him, 


to- 


There,  on  the  heavy  middle  of  the  night, 
Have  I  my  promise  made  to  call  upon  him. 


304  Mr.  Pope 

Though  the  public  generally  was  dissatisfied  with 
Pope's  edition,  if  only  on  account  of  the  numerous 
misprints  which  disfigured  the  costly  volumes,  a 
student  who  had  "  speciahsed "  in  Elizabethan 
literature  was  required  to  point  out  the  faults  of 
omission  and  commission  that  were  to  be  found 
on  nearly  every  page.  Unfortunately  for  Pope, 
one  such  specialist  was  numbered  among  his  con- 
temporaries. Lewis  Theobald  was  a  contemporary 
in  the  literal  sense  of  the  word,  for  he  was  born 
in  the  same  year  as  Pope,  and  died  in  the  same  year. 
He,  too,  was  nominally  a  poet,  had  translated 
the  classics,  and  contemplated  a  version  of  the 
"  Odyssey."  Unlike  Pope,  he  wrote  plays  which 
appeared  on  the  boards  under  his  own  name. 
Unlike  Pope,  again,  he  was  well  read  in  early 
English  literature,  and  more  especially  in  the 
Elizabethan  drama.  Though  he  has  generally  been 
regarded  as  a  dull  and  plodding  pedant,  he  had 
flashes  of  intuition,  where  the  Shakespearean  text 
was  concerned,  that  positively  amounted  to  genius. 

Theobald  was  a  conscientious,  well-intentioned 
man,  and  he  regarded  Pope's  edition  of  Shakespeare 
with  more  sorrow  than  anger.  In  the  innocence  of 
his  heart,  he  really  seems  to  have  believed  that  the 
poet  would  welcome  corrections  and  emendations, 
and,  in  any  case,  he  could  not  let  slip  such  an 
opportunity  of  giving  the  results  of  his  studies  to 
the  world. 

Accordingly  he  set  about  preparing  a  now  famous 
pamphlet,  which  he  published  in  1726  under  the 
title  of  "  Shakespeare  Restored  ;  or,  a  Specimen  of 
the   many  Errors,  as  well  committed  ,as  unamended, 


The  Edition  of  Shakespeare  305 

by  Mr.  Pope  in  his  late  Edition  of  this  Poet. 
Designed  not  only  to  correct  the  said  Edition,  but 
to  restore  the  True  Reading  of  Shakespeare  in  all 
the  Editions  ever  yet  published." 

Theobald  reckoned  himself  among  the  most  ardent 
admirers  of  Pope's  poetry,  and  had  even  done  battle 
with  Dennis  on  that  account.  In  his  Preface  to 
"  Shakespeare  Restored,"  he  says  that  he  had  ex- 
pected much  from  Pope's  edition,  and  had  been 
disappointed. 

"  I  have  so  great  an  esteem  for  Mr.  Pope,"  he 
adds,  "  and  so  high  an  opinion  of  his  genius  and 
excellencies,  that  I  beg  to  be  excused  from  the  least 
intention  of  derogating  from  his  merits  in  this 
attempt  to  restore  the  true  reading  of  Shakespeare. 
Though  I  confess  a  veneration  almost  rising  to 
idolatry  for  the  writings  of  the  inimitable  poet, 
I  would  be  very  loth  even  to  do  him  justice  at 
the  expense  of  that  other  gentleman's  character. 
But  I  am  persuaded,  I  shall  stand  as  free  from  such 
a  charge  in  the  execution  of  this  design  as  I  am 
sure  I  am  in  the  intention  of  it  ;  for  I  am  assuming 
a  task  here  which  this  learned  editor  seems  purposely 
(I  was  going  to  say,  with  too  nice  a  scruple)  to  have 
resigned." 

Though  Theobald  deals  faithfully  with  Pope's 
blunders,  the  spirit  of  humanity  and  courtesy  is 
preserved  almost  throughout.  The  greater  number 
of  corrections  and  emendations  were  mven  to 
Hamlet,  but  over  a  hundred  relate  to  the  other 
plays.  Many  were  of  the  first  importance,  while 
others  dealt  with  errors  of  punctuation.  The 
different  way  in  which  the  imagination  of  the  two 

VOL.   I  20 


3o6  Mr.  Pope 

editors  worked  may  best  be  seen  in  their  several 
readings  of  a  passage  in  Henry  V.^  the  meaning  of 
which  had  hitherto  baffled  all  conjectures.  This 
was  Mistress  Quickly's  famous  description  of  the 
death  of  FalstafF,  which,  in  the  folio  of  1623,  is 
thus  printed  : 

'A  made  a  finer  end,  and  went  away  and  it  had  been  any 
christome  child  ;  'a  parted  ev'n  just  between  twelve  and  one, 
ev'n  at  the  turning  o'  th'  tyde ;  for  after  I  saw  him  fumble 
with  the  sheets,  and  play  with  flowers,  and  smile  upon  his 
fingers-end,  I  knew  there  was  but  one  way  ;  for  his  nose  was 
as  sharpe  as  a  pen,  and  a  table  of  green  fields. 

Pope  threw  out  the  concluding  half-dozen 
words,  remarking  :  "  This  nonsense  got  into  all  the 
editions  by  a  pleasant  mistake  of  the  stage  editors, 
who  printed  from  the  common  piecemeal-written 
parts  in  the  playhouse.  A  table  was  here  directed 
to  be  brought  in  (it  being  a  scene  in  a  tavern  where 
they  drink  at  parting),  and  this  direction  crept  into 
the  text  from  the  margin.  Greenfield  was  the  name 
of  the  property  man  in  that  time  who  furnished 
implements,  etc.,  for  the  actors." 

This  "  wild  surmise "  was  not  accepted  by 
Theobald.  He  knew  more  about  the  theatre  than 
Pope,  and  he  was  aware  that  the  stage  directions 
for  furnishing  properties  are  never  marked  in  the 
middle  of  the  scenes  for  which  they  are  required. 
Also,  that  the  name  of  the  property  master  is  never 
given  in  the  prompter's  book.  Further,  no  one 
but  Pope  had  ever  heard  of  Greenfield.  Theobald 
possessed  an  edition  of  Shakespeare  on  the  margin 
of  which  some  one  had  written  "  talked  "  for  "  table." 
This    gave    a   clue.      Let  table    be  read   "  babied " 


The  Edition  of  Shakespeare  307 

(as  babbled  was  often  spelt)  and  then  the  passage 
would  run  :  "  His  nose  was  as  sharp  as  a  pen 
and  'a  babied  of  green  fields."  This  beautiful  con- 
jecture, whether  accurately  founded  or  not,  has  been 
accepted  by  every  subsequent  English  editor  except 
Warburton,  who  omitted  the  disputed  phrase,  and 
Collier,  who  preferred  "  on  a  table  of  green  frieze." 
Pope  himself,  in  the  second  edition  of  his  Shake- 
speare, alludes  to  the  emendation,  remarking  that  he 
had  omitted  the  words  because  they  could  not  be 
found  in  any  edition  till  after  the  author's  death. 
"  However,  '  The  Restorer  '  has  a  mind  they  should 
be  genuine,  and,  since  he  cannot  otherwise  make 
sense  of  'em,  would  have  a  mere  conjecture 
admitted." 

In  spite  of  the  studied  moderation  of  Theobald's 
tone,  a  moderation  not  less  rare  at  that  time  than 
the  thoroughness  of  his  critical  methods,  and  the 
wide  range  of  his  reading  in  English  literature, 
Pope  was  furious  with  "  the  Restorer,"  and  he 
prepared  a  punishment  that  was  out  of  all  pro- 
portion to  the  offence.  Two  years  later  Theobald 
was  pilloried  as  the  hero  of  that  monumental  satire, 
"The  Dunciad." 


CHAPTER    XXX 

1725 

The  Grotto — Swift^s  Misanthropy — Scandal 
about  Martha  Blount 

THE  somewhat  disappointing  reception  accorded 
to  the  edition  of  Shakespeare  and  the  early 
books  of  the  "  Odyssey  "  was  partly  compensated 
for  by  the  succes  fou  of  the  Grotto,  which  was 
at  once  the  admiration  and  envy  of  the  poet's 
friends.  In  a  letter  to  Edward  Blount,  dated 
June  2,  Pope  gives  the  following  account  of  his 
subterranean  work  : 

"  Let  the  young  ladies  be  assured  I  make  nothing 
new  in  my  gardens  without  wishing  to  see  the 
print  of  their  fairy  steps  in  every  part  of  them. 
I  have  put  the  last  hand  to  my  works  of  this  kind 
in  happily  finishing  the  subterraneous  way  and 
Grotto.  I  there  found  a  spring  of  the  clearest 
water,  which  falls  in  a  perpetual  rill,  that  echoes 
through  the  cavern  day  and  night.  From  the 
river  Thames  you  see  through  my  arch  up  to  a 
walk  of  the  wilderness,  to  a  kind  of  open  temple, 
wholly  composed  of  shells  in  the  rustic  manner ; 
and  from  that  distance  under  the  temple  you  look 
down  through  a  sloping  arcade  of  trees,  and  see 
the  sails  on  the  river  passing  suddenly  and  vanishing 

308 


The  Grotto  3^9 

as  through  a  perspective  glass.  When  you  shut 
the  doors  of  the  Grotto  it  becomes  on  an  instant, 
from  a  luminous  room,  a  camera  obscura,  on  the 
walls  of  which  all  the  objects  of  the  river,  hills, 
woods  and  boats,  are  forming  a  moving  picture  in 
their  visible  radiations  ;  and  when  you  have  a  mind 
to  light  it  up  it  affords  you  a  very  different  scene. 
It  is  finished  with  shells,  interspersed  with  pieces 
of  looking-glass  in  angular  forms  ;  and  in  the 
ceiling  is  a  star  of  the  same  materials,  at  which, 
when  a  lamp  of  an  orbicular  figure  of  thin  alabaster 
is  hung  in  the  middle,  a  thousand  pointed  rays 
glitter  and  are  reflected  over  the  place.  There  are 
connected  with  this  Grotto  by  a  narrower  passage 
two  porches  with  niches  and  seats — one  towards 
the  river  of  smooth  stones,  full  of  light  and  open  ; 
the  other  towards  an  arch  of  trees,  rough  with 
shells,  flint,  and  iron-ore.  The  bottom  is  paved 
with  simple  pebbles,  as  the  adjoining  walk  up  the 
wilderness  to  the  temple  is  to  be  cockle-shells  in 
the  natural  taste,  agreeing  not  ill  with  the  little 
dripping  murmur,  and  the  acquatic  idea  of  the 
whole  place.  It  wants  nothing  to  complete  it  but 
a  good   statue  with  an  inscription."  ^ 

1  Johnson  remarks  that  Pope,  "being  under  the  necessity  of 
making  a  subterraneous  passage  to  a  garden  on  the  other  side 
of  the  road,  adorned  it  with  fossil  bodies,  and  dignified  it  with 
the  title  of  a  Grotto  ;  a  place  of  silence  and  retreat,  from  which 
he  endeavoured  to  persuade  his  friends  and  himself  that  cares 
and  passions  could  be  excluded.  A  grotto  is  not  often  the  wish 
or  pleasure  of  an  Englishman,  who  has  more  frequent  need  to 
sohcit  than  exclude  the  sun  ;  but  Pope's  excavation  was  requisite 
as  an  entrance  to  his  garden,  and,  as  some  men  try  to  be  proud 
of  their  defects,  he  extracted  an  ornament  from  an  inconvenience, 
and  vanity  produced  a  grotto  where  necessity  enforced  a  passage." 


3IO  Mr.  Pope 

Pope  was  quite  as  proud  of  his  gardening  opera- 
tions as  he  was  of  his  poetry,  though  he  affected 
to  despise  the  materials  with  which  he  had  to  deal, 
"  I  am  as  busy  in  three  inches  of  garden,"  he  tells 
Lord  Strafford,  "  as  any  man  can  be  in  three-score 
acres.  I  fancy  myself  like  the  fellow  that  spent 
his  life  in  cutting  the  twelve  Apostles  on  one 
cherry-stone.  1  have  a  theatre,  an  arcade,  a  bowling- 
green,  a  grove,  and  what  not,  in  a  bit  of  ground 
that  would  have  been  but  a  plate  of  sallet  to 
Nebuchadnezzar  the  first  day  he  was  turned  to 
grass." 

The  actual  translation  of  the  remaining  books  of 
the  "  Odyssey  "  was  finished  in  July,  but  the  work 
of  revision  and  annotation  dragged  on  into  the 
following  year.  Pope  declared  that  this  "  labori- 
ous book "  had  cost  him  as  much  pains  as  the 
"  Iliad,"  though  the  drudgery  had  not  all  been 
his  own,  and  he  thought  it  would  be  found  an 
exacter  version.  "  When  I  translate  again,"  he 
adds  with  feeling,  "  I  will  be  hanged  ;  nay,  I  will 
do  something  to  deserve  to  be  hanged,  which  is 
worse,  rather  than  drudge  for  such  a  world  as  is 
no  judge  of  your  labour.  I  will  sooner  write 
something  to  anger  it  than  to  please  it."  ^ 

Pope's  two  humble  assistants  were  beginning  to 
tremble  for  their  share  of  reputation,  if  not  of  profit. 

'  Pope  was  accustomed  to  talk  as  if  he  wrote  ^solely  from 
benevolent  motives,  to  "  do  good "  to  his  fellow-men  ;  as  if  any 
one  could  be  morally  the  better  or  the  worse  for  a  new  translation 
of  the  "  Odyssey."  His  friends  caught  the  infection  of  this  cant, 
and  talked  about  the  ingratitude  shown  by  the  world  towards  their 
efforts  for  its  welfare,  when  they  were  actually  trying  to  make 
money,  or  further  their  political  ambitions. 


The  Grotto  311 

Broome  was  a  timid,  easy-going  man,  while  Fenton 
was  far  too  lazy  to  take  any  steps  by  himself/ 
He  urged  Broome  to  come  to  town,  in  order  to  go 
into  the  accounts  with  Pope.  But  the  Rector  of 
Stuston  hung  back.  He  wished  to  leave  the  business 
part  of  the  undertaking  to  Fenton,  and  he  suggested 
that  the  accounts  should  be  allowed  to  stand  over 
till  the  spring.  But  he  freely  confesses  that  he 
fears  a  breach  rather  than  peace  from  that  treaty. 

"Be  assured  Mr.  Pope  will  not  let  us  divide — -I 
fear  not  give  us  our  due  share • — of  honour.  He 
is  a  Caesar  in  poetry,  and  will  bear  no  equal." 

Mrs.  Howard  was  in  negotiation  at  this  time 
for  a  piece  of  land  at  Richmond,  where  her  royal 
master  built  her  a  house  known  as  Marble  Hill. 
It  was  supposed  that  she  would  be  all-powerful 
in  the  next  reign,  and  among  her  many  courtiers 
were  included  Peterborough,  Bathurst,  Pope,  Gay, 
Arbuthnot,  and — later  on— Swift.  Some  difficulty 
arising  about  the  land  surrounding  Marble  Hill, 
Mr.  Walpole  was  spirited  over  to  Twickenham 
by  Lord  Peterborough,  and  swore  a  round  oath 
that  the  Prince's  favourite  should  have  whatever 
grounds  she  wanted.  This  visit  was  the  occasion 
of  a  friendly  interview  between  Walpole  and  the 
Twickenham  poet,  who  was  usually  "agin  the 
Government."  Nothing  extraordinary  passed  at 
the  meeting,  according  to  Pope's  account,  and  the 
only  extraordinary  thing  about  the  affair  was  that 
he    did  not  return  the  minister's  visit.     Pope  had 

'  Fenton  was  so  indolent  that  he  left  off  fishing  because  the 
fish  bit.  He  could  not  bear  the  trouble  of  pulling  up  the  rod  and 
baiting  the  hook. 


312  Mr.  Pope 

been  told,  probably  by  Peterborough,  that  Walpole 
was  a  good  friend,  and  kept  his  promises.  But 
"  The  truth  is,"  to  quote  his  own  words,  "  I  have 
nothing  to  ask  of  him,  and  I  believe  he  knows 
that  nobody  follows   him /or  nothing.'"^ 

Swift  had  been  contemplating  a  visit  to  England 
for  some  time  past,  his  fears  of  halters  and  gibbets 
being  somewhat  abated.  He  had  been  deterred 
from  carrying  out  his  project  by  a  "■  cursed  deafness  " 
that  seized  him  every  two  or  three  months,  and 
also  by  the  fact  that  most  of  his  old  friends  were 
either  banished,  attainted,  beggared  or  retired. 
Still,  he  intended  to  venture  some  day,  and  he 
ordered  Pope  to  provide  him  with  two  or  three 
harridan  ladies  who  would  nurse  him  when  he  was 
ill,  or  talk  loud  to  him  when  he  was  deaf.  He 
regrets  to  hear  that  his  friend  is  again  embarked 
to  Homerland,  and  observes  that  "  Lord  Oxford 
used  to  curse  the  occasions  that  put  you  upon 
translations,  and  if  he  and  the  queen  had  lived  you 
should  entirely  have  followed  your  own  genius, 
built  and  planted  much,  and  writ  only  when  you 
had  a  mind," 

Swift  was  at  this  time  engaged  upon  "  Gulliver's 
Travels,"    of  which    Pope    says    that    he  has  heard 

^  The  poet  did,  however,  mention  to  Sir  Robert  his  desire  to 
obtain  an  abbacy  in  France  for  his  old  friend  and  priest,  Robert 
Southcote.  It  will  be  remembered  that,  twelve  years  before,  when 
Pope  was  thought  to  be  in  a  hopeless  condition,  Southcote  had 
consulted  Dr.  Radcliffe,  and  returned  with  the  prescription— 
"  Study  less,  and  ride  out  every  day."  Walpole,  probably  through 
his  brother  Horace,  obtained  for  Southcote  an  abbacy  at  Avignon, 
and  Pope  never  forgot  the  favour.  He  told  Fortescue  that  he 
should  wait  till  the  minister  was  out  of  power  before  he  said 
what  he  thought  of  him. 


U'^'''-^-n<y' 


'f 


,         -  .  f/  /..•riA. ntj^t!    SrcUp 

![»!*■    fi>M  arfr*    iwm    ni<tu<'i-«    l(«m»  AiKtltx 


![.a  

Aiifniutn     ri(li«n>ni>r<r   Jafaai 


iFrom  a  mezzotint  engraving  by  Vanhaecken  after  the  painting  by  Markham. 
DR.    JONATHAN    SWIFT. 


Swift*s  Misanthropy  313 

great  accounts.  As  for  his  own  travels,  he  promises 
that  they  shall  never  more  be  in  a  strange  land, 
but  he  intends  a  diligent  investigation  of  his  own 
territories.  In  other  words,  he  will  translate  no 
more,  but  produce  something  domestic,  fit  for  his 
own  country  and  his  own  time.  If  Swift  will 
come  to  Twickenham,  he  promises  to  find  him 
elderly  ladies  enough  that  can  halloo,  and  two  who 
can  nurse,  though  they  are  too  old  and  feeble  to 
make  much  noise,  namely,  his  own  mother  and 
nurse. 

"  I  can  also  help  you,"  he  continues,  "  to  a  lady 
who  is  as  deaf,  though  not  so  old  as  yourself^ — 
you  will  be  pleased  with  one  another,  I  will  engage  ; 
though  you  do  not  hear  one  another,  you  will 
converse,  like  spirits,  by  intuition.  What  you  will 
most  wonder  at  is,  she  is  considerable  at  Court, 
yet  no  party  woman,  and  lives  in  Court,  yet  would 
be  easy,  and  make  you  easy." 

Swift  explained  that  his  "Travels"  were  ready 
for  the  press  when  the  world  should  deserve  them, 
and  declared  that  the  chief  end  he  proposed  to 
himself  in  all  his  labours  was  to  vex  the  world 
rather  than  to  divert  it.  "  If  only  I  could  compass 
that  design  without  hurting  my  own  person  and 
fortune,  I  would  be  the  most  indefatigable  writer 
you  have  ever  seen,  without  reading."  He  is 
delighted  to  hear  that  Pope  has  done  with  trans- 
lations, and  begs  that  he  will  give  the  world  one 
lash  the  more  at  his — the  dean's— special  request. 
"  I  have  ever  hated  all  nations,  professions,  and  com- 
munities," he  concludes,  "  and  all  my  love  is  towards 

^  Mrs.  Howard. 


314  Mr,  Pope 

individuals  :  for  instance,  I  hate  the  tribe  of  lawyers, 
but  I  love  Counsellor  Such-a-one  and  Judge  Such- 
a-one.  So  with  physicians — I  will  not  speak  of 
my  own  trade — soldiers,  English,  Scotch,  French, 
and  the  rest.  But  principally  I  hate  and  detest 
that  animal  called  man,  though  I  heartily  love  John, 
Peter,  Thomas,  and  so  forth,  .  .   ." 

Among  the  men  thus  loved  was  Arbuthnot,  who, 
Swift  used  to  say,  had  every  good  quality  and  virtue 
that  could  make  a  man  amiable  or  useful,  "  but 
alas  !  he  has  a  sort  of  slouch  in  his  walk."  If 
the  world  had  but  a  dozen  men  like  Arbuthnot  in 
it,  the  dean  declared  that  he  would  burn  his  famous 
"  Travels,"  Pope,  who  professed  a  kind  of  universal 
benevolence,  must  have  been  shocked  at  Swift's 
misanthropy,  but  he  was  too  thoroughly  dominated 
by  the  dean's  virile  influence  to  attempt  any 
downright  protest.  In  his  reply  he  makes  a  jesting 
allusion  to  Swift's  desire  to  be  employed  as  an 
avenging  angel  of  wrath,  and  to  break  his  vial  of 
indignation  over  the  heads  of  the  wretched  creatures 
of  this  world. 

"  I  really  enter  as  fully  as  you  can  desire,"  he 
explains,  "  into  your  principle  of  love  of  individuals  ; 
and  I  think  the  way  to  have  a  public  spirit  is  first 
to  have  a  private  one  ;  for  who  can  believe,  said 
a  friend  of  mine,  that  any  man  can  care  for  a 
hundred  thousand  people  who  never  cared  for  one  ? 
No  ill-humoured  man  can  ever  be  a  patriot,  any 
more  than  a  friend.   .   .   ." 

Of  the  triumvirate,  Swift,  Pope,  and  Bolingbroke, 
each  thought  himself  the  only  true  philosopher, 
the    only    sincere    despiser    and    contemner    of   the 


Swift*s  Misanthropy  315 

world,  while  each  rebuked  the  others  for  self- 
deception  and  a  pretence  at  Stoicism.  Thus,  Boling- 
broke,  who  was  in  England  again  this  winter, 
assures  Swift  that  he  and  Pope  are  very  indifferent 
philosophers.  "  If  you  despised  the  world  so  much 
as  you  pretend  and  perhaps  believe,"  he  points  out, 
"  you  would  not  be  so  angry  with  it.  The  founder 
of  your  sect  (Seneca),  that  noble  original  whom 
you  think  it  so  great  an  honour  to  resemble,  was 
a  slave  to  the  worst  part  of  the  world,  to  the 
Court ;  and  all  his  big  words  were  the  language 
of  a  slighted  lover,  who  desired  nothing  so  much 
as  a  reconciliation,  and  feared  nothing  so  much  as 
a  rupture.  I  believe  the  world  has  used  me  as 
scurvily  as  most  people,  and  yet  I  could  never  find 
in  my  heart  to  be  thoroughly  angry  with  the  simple, 
false,  capricious  thing.  I  should  blush  alike  to  be 
discovered  fond  of  the  world,  or  piqued  at  it.^ 

In  November  Mrs.  Pope  was  very  ill  with 
jaundice,  and  her  son's  time  was  spent  in  a  "  trem- 
bling attendance  upon  death."  His  old  nurse,  Mary 
Beach,  died  on  November  5,  and,  though  Mrs.  Pope 
recovered,  the  poet  complains  that  there  is  "  no 
hour  of  day  or  night,  but  presents  to  me  some 
image  of  death  or  suffering." 

To  Mary  Beach  Pope  erected  a  tablet  in 
Twickenham  Church,  and  gave  her  perhaps  a  better 
memorial  in  a  touching  passage  in  a  letter  to  Lord 
Oxford.      "  My  poor  old   nurse,"  he  writes,   "  who 

'  "  Swift's  scorn  of  mankind  was  the  frenzy  of  disappointment, 
Pope's   vaunted   contempt  was  the  affectation  of  superiority,  and 
Bolingbroke's   acted    indifference    was   the   struggle    to   hide    his  * 
mortification  at  the  sentence  of  political  death  which  had  been 
passed  on  him  '  [Elwin]. 


3i6  Mr.  Pope 

has   lived  in  constant    attendance    and    care    of  me 

since  1  was  an  infant  at  her  breast,  died  the  other 

day.     I   think  it  a  fine  verse,   that   of  your   friend 

Mr.   Prior  : 

"And  by  his  side 
A  good  man's  greatest  loss,  a  faithful  servant,  died  ; 

and  I  do  not  think  one  of  my  own  an  ill  one, 
speaking  of  a  nurse  : 

"  The  tender  second  to  a  mother's  cares. 

Homer's  '  Odyssey,'  7. 

Surely  this  sort  of  friend  is  not  the  least ;  and  this 
sort  of  relation,  when  continued  through  life, 
superior  to  most  that  we  call  so." 

The  intimate  friendship  that  existed  between  Pope 
and  Martha  Blount  had  given  a  handle  to  the  poet's 
enemies,  and,  more  especially  since  the  Blounts  had 
taken  country  lodgings  in  his  neighbourhood,  scandal 
had  been  sown  broadcast  concerning  the  relations 
between  the  pair.  Pope  fancied  that  Teresa  had 
started  the  rumours,  and  he  not  only  attacked  her 
own  character,  but  was  persistent  in  his  desire  that 
Patty  should  leave  her  family  and  live  by  herself — 
the  most  fatal  step  she  could  have  taken  in  the 
circumstances. 

In  a  long  letter  to  Caryll,  dated  December  25, 
Pope  makes  a  passing  allusion  to  the  "  raihng 
papers "  about  the  "  Odyssey,"  which,  he  says, 
give  him  very  little  concern.  Far  more  serious  is 
the  confident  asseveration  which  had  been  spread 
over  the  town  to  the  effect  that  "  Your  god- 
daughter, Miss  Patty,  and  I  lived  two  or  three 
years  since  in  a  manner  that  was  reported   to  you 


Scandal  about  Martha  Blount  317 

as  giving  scandal  to  many  ;  that,  upon  your  writing 
to  me  upon  it,  I  consulted  with  her,  and  sent 
you  an  excusive,  alleviating  answer,  but  did  after 
that,  privately  of  myself,  write  to  you  a  full 
confession  how  much  T  myself  disapproved  the  way 
of  life,  and  owning  the  prejudice  done  her,  charging 
it  on  myself,  and  declaring  that  I  wished  to  break 
off  what  I  acted  against  my  conscience,  etc.,  and 
that  she,  being  at  the  same  time  spoken  to  by 
a  lady  of  your  acquaintance,  at  your  instigation, 
did  absolutely  deny  to  alter  any  part  of  her  conduct, 
were  it  ever  so  disreputable  or  exceptionable." 

Worse  still,  it  was  reported  that  Pope  had 
brought  Martha  acquainted  with  a  noble  lord,  and 
into  an  intimacy  with  some  others,  merely  to  get 
quit  of  her  himself.  The  poet  reminds  his  friend 
that  they  had  conferred  together  on  the  subject  of 
the  scandal,  and  that  Caryll  had  expressed  his 
complete  satisfaction  with  the  explanations  then 
given.  Mrs.  Caryll  also  had  written  a  cordial  letter 
to  Patty,  owning  that  she  had  heard  of  the  rumour, 
but  all  that  Pope  had  told  her  husband  "  was  so 
highly  to  your  credit  and  commendation  that  it 
caused  no  change  in  my  thoughts  about  the  matter  ; 
and  I  really  was  glad  that  you  had  such  a  friend 
in  the  world,  nor  can  I  ever  hope  that  anything 
should  change  him  from  ever  being  so  to  you." 

Pope  tried  to  drive  the  war  into  the  enemy's 
country  by  explaining  that  Martha  has  had  less  of 
his  conversation  during  the  past  two  years  than  ever 
before,  and  that  when  they  met  the  time  was  taken 
up  with  a  "  preachment  "  from  him  against  the  evil 
consequences  of  another  sort  of  company  which  her 


31 8  Mr.  Pope 

family  were  inclined  to  keep.  It  was  the  misfortune 
of  that  household  to  be  governed  like  a  ship — the 
head  guided  by  the  tail  ;  "  and  God  is  my  witness," 
he  concludes,  "  I  am  as  much  a  friend  to  her  soul 
as  to  her  person  :  the  good  qualities  of  the  former 
made  me  her  friend.  No  creature  has  better  natural 
dispositions,  or  would  act  more  rightly  and  reason- 
ably in  every  duty,  did  she  act  by  herself  and  for 
herself." 

Caryll's  belief  in  his  friend  was  unaffected  by  the 
breath  of  scandal,  and  for  the  time  being  the  storm 
blew  over.  His  reply  must  have  been  kind  and 
reassuring,  for  upon  receiving  it  Pope  wrote,  in 
evident  relief  of  mind  : 

"  I  am  as  confident  of  your  honour  as  of  my 
own.  Let  lies  perish  and  be  confounded,  and  the 
author  of  them,  if  not  forgiven,  be  despised.  So 
we  men  say  ;  but  I  am  afraid  women  cannot,  and 
your  injured  kinswoman  is  made  too  uneasy  by 
these  sinister  practices,  which,  especially  from  one's 
own  family,  are  terrible." 


CHAPTER    XXXI 

1726 

The  End  of  the  *^ Odyssey** — Discontent  of 
Broome  and  Fenton — Pope^s  Benevolence — 
Swift^s  Visit  to  England — Carriage  Accident 

T^ARLY  in  1726  the  three-years'  labour  on  the 
-■— '  "  Odyssey  "  came  to  an  end.  On  January  20 
Pope  wrote,  to  acknowledge  the  very  last  packet  of 
notes  from  Broome,  and  to  wish  him  joy  on  the 
accomplishment  of  their  task. 

For  three  long  years  they  had  dragged  their 
common  load,  lightening  each  other's  toil,  and  friends 
to  the  last.  "  Why,"  he  asks,  "  should  we  not  go 
together  in  triumph,  and  demand  the  flitch  of  bacon 
at  Dunmow,  or  some  such  signal  reward  ? " 

Neither  Broome  nor  Fenton  felt  that  their  union 
with  Pope  quahfied  either  of  them  to  demand  the 
flitch  of  bacon.  In  a  postscript  to  the  "  Odyssey  " 
the  senior  partner  had  stated  that  his  assistants  were 
only  responsible  for  five  books,  whereas  twelve  was 
the  actual  number.  Fenton  was  too  indolent  to 
raise  more  than  a  faint  protest  against  this  mis- 
statement, and  that  only  in  a  private  letter.  The 
time-serving  Broome,  who  had  expected  to  gain 
great  credit  from  his  connection  with    Pope,  com- 

319 


320  Mr*  Pope 

plained  that  the  great  man  had  revised  away  much 
of  the  reputation  rightly  due  to  his  partners.^ 
Worse  still,  he  had  falsely  attributed  to  them  certain 
of  the  more  unsuccessful  portions  of  the  work. 

"  His  dulness  is  bright  enough  to  be  our  glory," 
wrote  poor  Broome.  "  He  is  king  of  Parnassus, 
and  claims  what  is  good  in  our  translation  by  pre- 
rogative royal.  .  .  .  But,  in  the  meantime,  where  is 
his  veracity  ?  One  time  or  other,  the  truth  shall  be 
publicly  known.  Till  then,  I  give  him  leave  to  shine 
like  a  candle  in  the  dark,  which  is  lighted  up  to  its 
own  diminution,  and  shines  only  to  go  out  in  stink." 

Broome  was  weak  enough  to  sign  a  statement, 
printed  at  the  end  of  the  translation,  to  the  effect 
that  "  If  my  performance  has  merit  either  in  these 
[the  notes]  or  in  any  part  of  the  translation,  namely, 
the  sixth,  eleventh,  and  eighteenth  books,^  it  is  but 
just  to  attribute  it  to  the  judgment  and  care  of 
Mr.  Pope,  by  whose  hand  every  sheet  was  corrected. 
His  other  and  much  more  able  assistant  was  Mr. 
Fenton  in  the  fourth  and  the  twentieth  books." 
Fenton,  who  had  desired  to  work  anonymously,  was 
as  near  being  annoyed  at  Broome's  declaration  as 
was  possible  to  one  of  his  easy-going  temper,  since 
he  had  "  retired  to  the  extremest  brink  of  veracity  " 
in  his  efforts  to  conceal  his  share  in  the  undertaking. 

Broome  took  care  to  let  his  friends  know  the  true 
facts  of  the  case,  with  the  result  that  the  clamour 
against  the  "  undertaker  "  of  the  "  Odyssey  "  waxed 
louder  and  more  vehement.     Pope  was  both  annoyed 

^  Pope  let  it  be  understood  that  the  merit  of  the  work  done  by 
his  assistants  was  due  to  his  careful  revisal  and  correction. 
'^  Broome  had  translated  eight  books  and  Fenton  four. 


Pope^s  Benevolence  3^^ 

and  distressed  at  the  hostility  which  had  been 
aroused  by  his  Uttle  bit  of  sharp  practice.  That  he 
was  unable  to  perceive  anything  reprehensible  in  his 
own  conduct  is  proved  by  a  letter  in  which  he  assured 
Broome,  of  all  people  in  the  world,  that  he  knew 
himself  to  be  an  honest  and  friendly  man,  nor  did 
he  think  that  he  had  ever  acted  an  unfair  or  dis- 
reputable part  with  the  public.  "  This  indeed  is 
my  sore  place  ;  for  I  care  not  what  they  say  of  my 
poetry,  but  a  man's  morals  are  of  a  tenderer  nature, 
and  higher  consequence." 

There  are  proofs  enough  and  to  spare  that  the 
poet,  whatever  his  principles  of  honour,  was  not 
wanting  in  tenderness,  and  it  is  only  fair  to  follow 
the  narrative  of  a  shady  transaction  with  an  account 
of  a  kind  and  generous  action.  Some  fifteen  years 
before  he  had  been  introduced  to  a  Mrs.  Cope,  a 
first  cousin  of  Caryll's,  whose  conversation  left  a 
most  favourable  impression  on  his  mind/  Mrs. 
Cope  had  since  been  deserted  by  her  husband,  who, 
while  in  service  abroad,  had  bigamously  married 
another  woman.  She  had  recently  gone  to  France, 
where  she  hoped  to  meet  her  brother,  and  receive 
some  assistance  from  him.  But  these  hopes  proved 
vain.  Pope  had  sent  her  money  some  months  be- 
fore, but  he  now  learnt  that  her  resources  were 
exhausted  and  that  the  poor  woman,  who  was  in 
failing  health,  actually  wanted  bread.  He  asked 
Caryll  to  help  her,  recommended  her  to  the  good 

'  On  July  19,  171 1,  Pope  wrote  to  Caryll:  "I  am  infinitely 
obliged  to  you  for  bringing  me  acquainted  with  Mrs.  Cope,  from 
whom  I  heard  more  wit  and  sense  in  two  hours  than  almost  all 
the  sex  ever  spoke  in  their  whole  Hves." 

VOL.    I  21 


322  Mr.  Pope 

offices  of  his  old  friend,  the  Abbe  Southcote,  and 
himself  undertook  to  make  her  a  regular  allowance 
of  twenty  pounds  a  year/ 

Another  instance  of  his  generous  sympathy 
towards  poor  ladies  shines  out  of  the  following 
note  to  Mrs.  Caesar  about  one  of  the  subscribers  to 
the  "  Odyssey  "  : 

"  Madam, 

"  Besides  the    pleasure   of  telling    you    and 
Mr.   Caesar    how   truly   I   am   your   servant,   I   have 
an  occasion  to  trouble  you  with  an  affair  of  which 
you    know    more    than     myself,     as    I    believe.       I 
received  the  enclosed  from  a  lady  whom   1  suppose 
to  be  of  your  acquaintance.     I  beg   you  to  inform 
her  (since  I  see  by  the  date  she   lives  at   Hertford) 
that  I   have  sent  the   three  books,  as  she   required, 
to    Wyatt  the  bookseller's,   and   I    have  added  the 
two   last    also,  which    I    desire    her    acceptance    of. 
I   am   entirely  a  stranger  to  the   circumstances  she 
mentions,  but  sincerely  concerned  for  the  misfortune 
of  such  a  change  to   any   person  ;    if  it  be,   as  she 
says,   that    to    make    the   second   payment   were  an 
imprudence    in    her    condition,    I    fear    the    having 
made  the   first   may  now  be   so  too  ;  and  you  will 
oblige  me  if  you  can  find  any  decent  way  of  returning 
those  three  guineas,  which  I  will   righteously  repay 
you.     I  am  troubled   at   such  an   instance   of  want 

'  Another  protegee  of  Pope's  was  a  poor  girl  named  Betty 
Fletcher,  who,  being  sickly  and  unable  to  work,  was  recommended 
by  him  to  the  kindness  of  his  old  friends,  the  Dancastles.  At  the 
time  of  writing  (this  letter  is  undated)  the  poet  explains  that  he  is 
in  low  water  and  has  learned,  much  against  his  will,  that  charity 
begins  at  home.  Otherwise,  he  would  far  rather  support  Betty 
himself  than  ask  aid  of  another. 


Swift^s  Visit  to  England  323 

as  this  seems  to  be  in  one  who  has  (probably)  the 
honour  to  be  known  to  you,  and  consequently  must 
be  a  concern  to  you  also. 

"  Believe,  madam,  I  am,  etc., 

"A.    POPE."^ 

In  March  Swift  paid  his  long-deferred  visit  to 
England,  and  made  Pope's  house  his  headquarters 
during  the  four  months  of  his  stay.  The  dean 
brought  over  the  manuscript  of  "  Gulliver's  Travels," 
for  the  anonymous  publication  of  which  Pope  and 
Erasmus  Lewis  made  the  arrangements.  The 
ostensible  object  of  his  visit  was  to  inspect  the 
papers  at  Down  Park,  with  a  view  to  writing  the 
life  of  the  late  Lord  Oxford,  a  project  that  was 
never  carried  out.  But  the  motives  that  induced 
him  to  take  the  journey  to  England  at  this  time 
were  political  as  well  as  literary.  He  desired  to 
represent  the  affairs  of  Ireland  to  the  Prime 
Minister  in  "  a  true  light  " — that  is,  a  light  approved 
by  himself  Swift  had  given  notable  proof  of  his 
power  by  defeating  the  scheme  for  "  Wood's  half- 
pence," and  though  this  could  hardly  have  made 
him  popular  with  EngHsh  statesmen,  he  seems  to 
have  cherished  some  lurking  hope  that  by  fear, 
if  not  by  favour,  he  might  gain  the  minister's 
ear,  and  recover  a  measure  of  political  influence. 
Then  again,  the  Princess  of  Wales  was  known  to 
be  a  lady  of  strong  mind  and  latitudinarian  views. 
When  she  came  into  power  she  would  not,  like 
Anne,  oppose  the  promotion  of  a  brilliant  man 
merely  because  he  was  accused  of  licentious  writing. 

1  From  the  unpublished  MS. 


324  Mr,  Pope 

Failing  the  princess,  there  was  Mrs.  Howard,  the 
favourite,  whose  influence  might  be  even  more 
useful  than  that  of  the  future  queen. 

But  all  these  hopes  and  ambitions  were  doomed 
to  disappointment.  The  dean  was  civilly  received 
by  Walpole,  and  was  presented  to  the  princess 
at  Leicester  House,  while,  thanks  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  Pope  and  Gay,  he  quickly  became  on 
intimate  terms  with  the  lady  of  Marble  Hill.  On 
March  23  Pope  wrote  to  inform  Lord  Oxford  that 
the  dean  had  arrived  in  England,  and  adds  : 

"  He  is  in  perfect  health  and  spirits,  the  joy  of 
all  here  who  know  him,  as  he  was  eleven  years  ago, 
and  I  never  received  a  more  sensible  satisfaction 
than  in  having  been  now  two  days  with  him." 

If  neglected  by  the  politicians.  Swift  was  wel- 
comed with  joy  by  the  wits.  Not  only  Pope,  but 
Arbuthnot,  Congreve,  Gay,  and  Bolingbroke  made 
much  of  him,  and  accompanied  him  on  his  visits 
to  the  country-houses  of  his  friends.  On  June  20 
Pope  wrote  to  tell  Mrs.  Howard,  who  was  then 
at  Leicester  House,  that  her  cow  had  got  a  calf 
which   had  been  christened   Calfurnia. 

"  In  order  to  celebrate  this  birthday,  we  had 
a  cold  dinner  at  Marble  Hill.  Mrs.  Susan  offered 
us  wine  upon  the  occasion,  and  upon  such  an 
occasion  we  could  not  refuse  it.  Our  entertainment 
consisted  of  flesh  and  fish,  and  the  lettuce  of  a 
Greek  island  called  Cos.  We  have  some  thought 
of  dining  there  to-morrow  to  celebrate  the  day 
after  the  birthday,  and  on  Friday  to  celebrate 
the  day  after  that,  where  we  intend  to  entertain 
Dean  Swift,  because   we  think  your   hall   the   most 


Swift's  Visit  to  England  3^5 

delightful  room  in  the  world,  except  that  where 
you  are." 

A  few  weeks  later  Swift  had  just  returned  from 
a  fortnight's  ramble  with  Pope  and  Gay,  and,  in 
consequence  of  Stella's  sudden  illness,  was  preparing 
for  his  departure  to  Ireland.  It  is  evident  that  he 
left  his  friends  with  a  heavy  heart,  though  he  told 
Pope  :  "  I  had  rather  live  in  forty  Irelands  than 
under  the  frequent  disquiets  of  hearing  you  are  out 
of  order.  I  always  apprehend  it  most  after  a  great 
dinner  ;  for  the  least  transgression  of  yours,  if  it 
be  but  two  bits  and  one  sup  more  than  your  stint, 
is  a  great  debauch,  for  which  you  certainly  pay  more 
than  those  sots  who  are  carried  drunk  to  bed."  ^ 

In  acknowledgment  of  the  hospitality  he  had 
received  at  Twickenham,  Swift  gave  his  host  a 
pair  of  silver  cups  engraved  with  the  following  in- 
scription :  "  Jonathan  Swift — Alex™  Pope  :  Pignus 
amicitas  exiguum  ingentis."  Pope  declared  that  the 
dean's  name  was  engraved  elsewhere  than  upon  the 
cups,  which  he  might  throw  into  the  Thames  without 
injury  to  his  memory  of  the  giver.  He  found 
himself  after  Swift's  departure  like  a  man  in  exile, 
for  home  was  no  home  without  the  dean.  He 
feels  as  if  he  had  had  a  Jimb  lopped  off,  and 
complains  :    "  I    shall    never    more    think    of   Lord 

*  Pope  is  supposed  to  have  hastened  his  end  by  eating  high- 
seasoned  dishes  and  drinking  spirits.  Mrs.  Howaid  sometimes 
reproved  him  for  his  intemperance,  and  Lord  Bathurst  compH- 
ments  her  on  her  candour.  "  Yesterday,"  he  says  in  one  letter 
to  the  lady,  "  I  had  a  little  piece  of  salmon  just  caught  out  of  the 
Severn,  and  a  fresh  pike  that  was  brought  me  from  the  other  side 
of  your  house  out  of  the  Thames.  He  ate  as  much  as  he  could 
of  both,  and  insisted  upon  his  moderation,  because  he  made  his 
dinner  upon  one  dish." 


3'^^  Mr,  Pope 

Cobham's,  the  woods  of  Exeter,  or  the  pleasing 
prospect  of  Bibury,  but  your  idea  must  be  joined 
with  them,  nor  see  one  seat  in  my  own  garden, 
or  one  room  in  my  house,  without  a  phantom  of 
you  sitting  or  walking  before  me."  Pope  thought 
that  he  and  Swift  were  the  only  people  among  their 
acquaintance  qualified  to  live  on  the  mountains  of 
Wales,  a  phrase  which  stood  for  the  Ultima  Thule 
in  the  poet's  mouth.  "  The  doctor  ^  goes  to  cards. 
Gay  to  Court  ;  one  loses  money,  one  loses  his  time  ; 
another  of  our  friends  labours  to  be  unambitious, 
but  he  labours  in  an  unwilling  soil.^  One  lady 
you  like  has  too  much  of  France  to  be  fit  for 
Wales.^  Another  is  too  much  a  subject  to  princes 
and  potentates  to  relish  that  wild  taste  of  liberty 
and  poverty,^  Mr.  Congreve  is  too  sick  to  bear 
a  thin  air,  and  she  that  leads  him  too  rich  to  enjoy 
anything.^  Lord  Peterborough  can  go  to  any 
climate,  but  never  stay  in  any.  Lord  Bathurst  is 
too  great  an  husbandman  to  like  barren  hills,  except 
they  are  his  own  to  improve." 

Pope's  life  contained  so  few  "  incidents,"  in  the 
dramatic  sense  of  the  word,  that  a  carriage  accident 
in  which  he  had  a  narrow  escape  from  drowning 
looms  large  in  the  annals  of  Twickenham.  Early 
in  September  he  was  driving  home  from  Dawley 
in  Lord  Burlington's  coach  when,  owing  to  a  little 
bridge  having  broken  down,  he  was  overturned  into 
the  water.  The  windows  were  up,  and  the  water 
rose    as    high    as    the    knots    of  the  poet's  periwig 

1  Arbuthnot.  2  Bolingbroke. 

^  Lady  Bolingbroke.  *  Mrs.  Howard, 

■'  The  young  Duchess  of  Marlborough. 


Carriage  Accident  3^7 

before  the  footman  could  break  the  glass  and  get 
him  out.  Pope  got  a  bad  gash  across  his  hand,  and 
was  afraid  that  he  would  lose  the  use  of  two  fingers, 
but  his  surgeon  assured  him  that  no  tendons  were 
cut — only  nerves — and  that  his  fingers  were  safe. 
Gay  and  Bolingbroke,  who  both  sent  accounts  of 
the  accident  to  Swift,  state  that  it  was  the  right 
hand  which  was  injured,  but  Arbuthnot,  who,  as 
a  doctor,  ought  to  have  known,  says  it  was  the  left. 

Pope  enjoyed  the  importance  of  his  adventure, 
and  made  the  worst  of  his  injuries,  assuring  Swift 
that  he  had  lost  two  fingers.  The  dean  replied 
that  he  hoped  the  statement  about  the  fingers  was 
only  a  jest,  since  other  letters  informed  him  that 
Pope  had  only  lost  some  blood,  which  indeed  he 
could  ill  spare,  since  he  had  nothing  but  blood  and 
bones  to  venture.  The  poet  did  not  soon  recover 
from  his  injury,  for  as  late  as  November  i6  he 
complains  that  "  the  two  least  fingers  of  one  hand 
hang  impediments  to  the  other."  On  the  same  day 
Voltaire,  who  was  now  staying  at  Dawley  with 
Bolingbroke,  addressed  a  belated  letter  of  condolence 
to  Pope  : 

"  I  hear  this  moment  of  your  sad  adventure. 
That  water  you  fell  in  was  not  Hippocrene's  water, 
otherwise  it  would  have  respected  you.  Indeed,  I 
am  concerned  beyond  expression  for  the  danger  you 
have  been  in,  and  more  for  your  wound.  Is  it 
possible  that  those  fingers  which  have  written  '  The 
Rape  of  the  Lock  '  and  '  The  Critic,'  which  have 
dressed  '  Homer '  so  becomingly  in  an  English 
coat,  should  have  been  so  barbarously  treated  ?  Let 
the  hand  of  Dennis,  or  your  poetasters,  be  cut  off; 


32  8  Mn  Pope 

yours  is  sacred.  I  hope,  sir,  you  are  now  perfectly 
recovered.  Really,  your  accident  concerns  me  as 
much  as  all  the  disasters  of  a  master  ought  to  affect 
his  scholar.  I  am  sincerely,  sir,  with  the  admiration 
which  you  deserve,  your  most  humble  servant."  ^ 

Early  in  November  "  Gulliver's  Travels  "  made 
its  appearance  anonymously,  and  the  secret  of  the 
authorship  was  at  first  carefully  kept.  Pope  and  Gay, 
writing  to  Swift  on  November  17,  give  an  interesting 
account  of  the  reception  of  this  book,  keeping  up 
the  fiction  that  the  authorship  was  unknown, 

"  About  ten  days  ago,"  they  relate,  "  a  book 
was  published  here  of  the  '  Travels '  of  one 
Gulliver,  which  has  been  the  conversation  of  the 
whole  town  ever  since.  The  whole  impression  sold 
in  a  week  ;  and  nothing  is  more  diverting  than 
to  hear  the  different  opinions  people  give  of  it, 
though  all  agree  in  liking  it  extremely.  It  is 
generally  said  that  you  are  the  author  ;  but  I  am 
told  the  bookseller  declares  he  knows  not  from 
what  hand  it  came.  From  the  highest  to  the  lowest 
it  is  universally  read,  from  the  Cabinet  Council  to 
the  nursery.  The  politicians,  to  a  man,  agree  that 
it  is  free  from  particular  reflections,  but  that  the 
satire  on  general  societies  of  men  is  too  severe.  .  .  . 
Lord  [Bolingbroke]  is  the  person  who  least  approves 
.  of  it,  blaming  it  as  a  design  of  evil  consequence 
to  depreciate  human  nature.  .  .  .  The  Duchess 
Dowager  of  Marlborough  is  in  raptures  at  it  ;  she 
says  she  can  dream  of  nothing  else  since  she  read 

^  Pope  did  not  care  for  Voltaire,  who  once  drove  Mrs.  Pope 
from  the  table  at  Twickenham  by  the  grossness  of  his  con- 
versation. 


'^ Gulliver's  Travels''  3^9 

it.  She  declares  that  she  has  now  found  out  that 
her  whole  life  has  been  lost  in  caressing  the  worst 
part  of  mankind,  and  treating  the  best  as  her 
foes.  .  .  .  Among  lady  critics,  some  have  found  out 
that  Mr.  Gulliver  had  a  particular  malice  to  maids- 
of-honour.  Those  of  them  who  frequent  the  church 
say  his  design  is  impious,  and  that  it  is  an  insult 
on  Providence,  by  depreciating  the  works  of  the 
Creator.  Notwithstanding,  I  am  told  that  the 
princess  has  read  it  with  great  pleasure.  ...  It 
has  passed  Lords  and  Commons  nemine  contra- 
dicente\  and  the  whole  town,  men,  women,  and 
children,  are  full  of  it." 

In  a  confidential  letter  written  about  the  same 
time,  Pope  openly  congratulates  the  dean  upon 
his  book,  which  he  prophesies  will  be  hereafter  the 
wonder  of  all  men.  He  finds  no  considerable  man 
very  angry  at  the  book.  Some  thought  it  too  bold, 
and  too  general  a  satire,  but  none  of  any  conse- 
quence accused  it  of  any  particular  reflections,  so 
that  the  author  need  not  have  been  so  secret  on 
that  head.  The  dean,  in  his  reply,  keeps  up 
the  fiction  that  he  has  no  personal  connection  with 
"  Gulliver's  Travels."  He  says  that  he  has  received 
the  book,  and  he  discusses  various  objections  that 
have  been  raised  to  it,  concluding  with — "  a  bishop 
here  said  that  the  book  was  full  of  improbable  lies, 
and,  for  his  part,  he  hardly  believed  a  word  of  it ; 
and  so  much  for  '  Gulliver.'  " 

"  Gulliver "  was  the  sensation  of  the  winter  of 
1726-7.  Arbuthnot  prophesied  that  the  book 
would  have  as  great  a  run  as  "  The  Pilgrim's 
Progress,"     and      wrote     to     Swift     that     "Lord 


330  Mr.  Pope 

Scarborough,  who  is  no  inventor  of  stories,  told 
us  that  he  fell  in  company  with  a  master  of  a  ship, 
who  told  him  that  he  was  very  well  acquainted 
with  *  Gulliver,'  but  that  the  printer  had  mis- 
taken :  that  he  lived  in  Wapping,  and  not  in 
Rotherhithe."  ^ 

^  Sir  Walter  Scott  says  that  Swift  was  supposed  to  have  given 
the  copyright  of  "Gulliver"  to  Pope,  who  sold  it  for  ^^300.  But 
the  negotiations  appear  to  have  been  conducted  through  Erasmus 
Lewis,  who  sold  the  copyright  to  Motte  for  ;{^200,  and  there  is 
no  evidence  that  Pope  benefited  by  the  sale. 


CHAPTER    XXXII 

1727 

The    *^  Miscellanies ''—Swift's    Last    Visit  to 

England — Death   of  George   L — Letters  to 

Cromwell — Gay*s    Refusal   of    a   Place  at 
Court. 

DURING  Swift's  visit  to  Pope  in  the  summer 
of  1726,  the  two  friends  had  planned  to 
publish  some  volumes  of  *'  Miscellanies,"  which 
should  contain  their  ephemeral  pieces  in  prose  and 
verse.  Some  of  these  were  the  fragmentary  pro- 
ductions of  the  Scriblerus  Club,^  while  others  were 
personal  or  topical  skits,  which,  after  being  passed 
round  a  friendly  circle  in  manuscript,  had  been 
snapped  by  the  bookseller  and  printed  without 
permission  in  catch-penny  collections.  On  March  8 
Pope  wrote  to  the  dean  : 

"  Our  '  Miscellany '  is  now  quite  printed.  I  am 
prodigiously  pleased  with  this  joint  volume,  in 
which,  methinks,  we  look  like  friends  side  by 
side,    serious      and     merry     by     turns,     conversing 

*  In  these  Gay  and  Arbuthnot  also  had  a  hand.  The  more 
important  of  the  pieces  published  in  these  early  volumes  were 
"The  Memoir  of  P.  P.,  Clerk  of  this  Parish,"  a  parody  of 
Burnet's  History,  "  The  Key  to  the  Lock,"  and  the  satires  on 
Curll,  Dennis,  and  Addison. 

331 


33'^  Mr,  Pope 

interchangeably,  and  walking  down  hand  in  hand  to 
prosperity,  not  in  the  stiff  forms  of  learned  authors, 
flattering  each  other  and  setting  the  rest  of  mankind 
at  nought,  but  in  a  free,  unimportant,  natural,  easy 
manner,  diverting  others  just  as  we  diverted 
ourselves.   ,   .   ." 

The  first  two  volumes  appeared  in  June,  but 
were  received  without  enthusiasm  by  the  public. 
The  Preface,  dated  May  27,  1727,  is  undoubtedly 
from  the  pen  of  Pope.  According  to  this  com- 
position, the  two  principal  authors  of  the  "  Miscel- 
lanies," having  been  extremely  ill-treated  by  the 
booksellers,  were  publishing,  for  self-protection, 
correct  copies  of  their  lighter  productions.  Some 
of  these  had  already  stolen  into  the  world  against 
the  will  of  the  authors,  while  others  might  share 
the  same  fate.  The  authors  admit  that  they  have 
written  some  things  in  the  levity  of  youth  which 
they  regret,  but  cannot  disown,  while  they  apologise 
for  certain  railleries,  more  especially  those  on  Addison 
and  Vanbrugh.  The  collection,  as  a  whole,  consists 
of  their  follies  rather  than  their  studies,  their 
idlenesses  rather  than  their  works.  They  console 
themselves  with  the  reflection,  not  too  well  founded, 
that  all  the  pieces  are  innocent,  and  that  most  of 
them  have  a  moral   tendency. 

"  We  declare,"  concludes  the  Preface,  "  that  this 
collection  contains  every  piece  which,  in  the  idlest 
humour,  we  have  written  ;  not  only  such  as  came 
under  our  review  or  correction,  but  many  others 
which,  however  unfinished,  are  not  now  in 
our  power  to  suppress.  Whatsoever  was  in  our 
own    possession    at    the    publishing    hereof,    or    of 


The  ^'Miscellanies''  333 

which   no  copy  was  gone  abroad,  we  have  actually 
destroyed    to    prevent    all    possibility    of    the    like 


treatment."  ^ 


Motte  bought  the  copyright  of  the  "  Miscellanies  " 
for  ;^225,  Gay  and  Arbuthnot  receiving  ^50  for 
their  share  in  the  Scriblerus  productions,  while  Swift 
and  Pope  divided  the  remainder.  The  sale  of  the 
volumes  was  slow,  and  Motte  was  dilatory  in 
payment,  having  to  be  dunned  several  times  by 
Pope,  who  was  the  only  man  of  business  among 
the  authors  concerned. 

Swift  paid  his  last  visit  to  England  this  year, 
arriving  about  the  middle  of  April  and  remaining 
till  the  end  of  September.  Again  he  was  Pope's 
guest  at  Twickenham  during  part  of  his  stay, 
but  the  arrangement  was  not  altogether  a  success. 
The  dean  was  suffering  from  deafness  and  giddi- 
ness, and  these  ailments  did  not  improve  his 
temper.  He  could  not  hear  his  host's  weak  voice, 
and  Pope's  anxious  civihties  irritated  him.  "  I  am 
very  uneasy,"  he  writes  to  Sheridan,  "  because  so 
many  of  our  acquaintance  come  to  see  us,  and  I 
cannot  be  seen.  Besides,  Mr.  Pope  is  too  sickly 
and  complaisant  ;  therefore  I  resolve  to  go  some- 
where else."  He  has  described  the  difficulties 
of  intercourse  with  his  friend  in  the  following 
lines  : 

Pope  has  the  talent  well  to  speak, 

But  not  to  reach  the  ear; 
His  loudest  voice  is  low  and  weak, 

The  dean  too  deaf  to  hear. 

^  Only  two  volumes  appeared  in  1727,  a  third  in  1728,  and  a 
fourth  in  1732. 


334  Mr.  Pope 

Awhile  they  on  each  other  look, 

Then  different  studies  choose  ; 
The  dean  sits  plodding  o'er  a  book, 

Pope  walks  and  courts  the  Muse. 

On  June  1 1  George  I.  died  of  apoplexy  on  the 
way  to  Hanover,  and  the  hopes  of  the  Tory  party 
ran  high.  Swift  and  Gay  had  courted  both  the 
Princess  and  Mrs.  Howard,  and  it  was  thought 
that  their  fortunes  were  assured.  The  dean  hoped 
for  preferment  in  England,  while  Gay  confidently 
expected  a  lucrative  place  at  Court,  in  return  for 
his  verses  on  the  future  queen,  and  his  "  Fables," 
written  for  the  young  Duke  of  Cumberland.  It  was 
generally  believed  that  the  Whigs  would  be  turned 
out,  and  that  Walpole,  who  had  sided  with  the  late 
king  against  the  prince,  would  be  disgraced.  But 
Sir  Robert  contrived  to  gain  the  ear  of  the  queen, 
and  presently,  to  the  amazement  of  politicians  and 
courtiers,  it  was  discovered  that  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment were  to  be  left  in  his  capable,  unscrupulous 
hands,  while  his  seat  in  the  saddle  of  office  was  even 
firmer  than  before.  Pope,  as  usual,  stood  outside 
all  the  excitement  and  agitation.  For  the  present, 
he  was  content  to  be  a  spectator,  not  an  actor  in 
the  political  comedy. 

"  The  great  and  sudden  event  which  has  just 
happened,"  he  wrote  to  Bethel  on  June  24,  "  puts 
the  whole  world  (I  mean  this  whole  world)  into 
a  new  state.  The  only  use  I  have,  shall,  or  wish 
to  make  of  it  is  to  observe  the  disparity  of  men 
from  themselves  in  a  week's  time  ;  the  desultory 
leaping  and  catching  of  new  motions,  new  modes, 
new    measures  ;    and    that    strange    spirit    and    life 


Illness   of  Stella  335 

with  which  men,  broken  and  disappointed,  resume 
their  hopes,  their  sohcitations,  their  ambitions  ! 
It  would  be  worth  your  while,  as  a  philosopher,  to 
be  busy  in  these  observations,  and  to  come  hither 
to  see  the  fury  and  bustle  of  the  bees  this  hot 
season,  without  coming  so  near  as  to  be  stung  by 
them." 

Towards  the  end  of  August  Swift  heard  from 
Sheridan  that  Stella's  illness  had  taken  a  fatal  turn, 
and  that  she  was  rapidly  sinking.  Sick,  disap- 
pointed, and  heart-broken,  Swift  could  no  longer 
bear  the  complaisance  of  his  Twickenham  host. 
On  the  last  day  of  August  he  went  to  London, 
where  he  could  be  alone  with  his  grief.  Sheridan, 
who  was  anxious  about  the  dean's  health,  both 
mental  and  physical,  wrote  to  inquire  further  news 
of  him  from  Pope. 

"  I  am  both  obliged  and  alarmed  by  your  letter," 
replied  the  poet.  "  What  you  mention  of  a  particular 
friend  of  the  dean's  being  upon  the  brink  of 
another  world  gives  me  great  pain  ;  for  it  makes 
me,  in  tenderness  to  him,  wish  him  with  you,  and 
at  the  same  time  I  fear  he  is  not  in  a  condition 
to  make  the  journey.  .  .  .  He  talks  of  returning  to 
Ireland  in  three  weeks,  if  he  recovers  sufficiently  ; 
if  not,  he  will  stay  here  this  winter.  Upon  pretence 
of  some  very  unavoidable  occasion,  he  went  to 
London  four  days  since,  where  I  see  him  as  often 
as  he  will  let  me.  I  was  extremely  concerned  at 
his  opinidtreti  in  leaving  me  ;  but  he  shall  not  get 
rid  of  the  friend,  though  he  may  of  the  house." 

Swift  told  no  one  of  Stella's  illness,  and  he 
shunned  his   friends    during    the    last    days    of   his 


33^  Mr.  Pope 

stay.  He  returned  to  Ireland  at  the  end  of 
September,  and  remained  with  Stella  till  her  death  in 
the  following  January.  Pope  was  hurt  at  the  dean's 
abrupt  departure,  but  he  wrote  in  his  usual 
friendly  style  to  condole  with  him  on  his  broken 
health. 

"  I  was  sorry  to  find  you  could  think  yourself 
easier  in  any  house  than  in  mine,"  he  says,  "  though 
at  the  same  time  I  can  allow  for  a  tenderness 
in  your  way  of  thinking,  even  when  it  seemed  to 
want  that  tenderness."  Swift  replied  in  what  was, 
for  him,  an  apologetic  tone.  He  had  thought  it 
best,  considering  his  health,  to  return  to  his  own 
home,  where,  with  a  large  house,  and  his  own 
servants  about  him,  he  could  be  sick  and  deaf 
without  making  his  friends  uneasy. 

"  You  are  the  best  and  kindest  creature  in  the 
world,"  he  continues,  "  and  I  know  nobody,  alive 
or  dead,  to  whom  I  am  so  much  obliged  ;  and  if 
ever  you  made  me  angry  it  was  for  your  too  much 
care  about  me.  .  .  .  But  it  has  pleased  God  that 
you  are  not  in  a  state  of  health  to  be  mortified 
with  the  care  and  sickness  of  a  friend.  Two  sick 
friends  never  did  well  together  :  such  an  office 
is  fitter  for  servants  and  humble  companions,  to 
whom  it  is  wholly  indifferent  whether  we  give 
them  trouble  or  no.  The  case  would  be  quite 
otherwise  if  you  were  with  me  ;  you  could  refuse 
to  see  anybody,  and  here  is  a  large  house  where  we 
need  not  hear  each  other  if  we  were  both  sick. 
I  have  a  race  of  orderly,  elderly  people  of  both 
sexes  at  command,  who  are  of  no  consequence,  and 
have  gifts  proper  for  attending  us — who   can  bawl 


Letters  to  Cromwell  337 

when  I  am  deaf,  and  tread  softly  when  I  am  only 
giddy  and  would  sleep." 

Pope's  own  health  was  worse  than  usual  in  the 
autumn  of  this  year.  "  My  old  complaints  of  the 
stomach,"  he  tells  Caryll,  "  are  turned  into  an 
inveterate  colic,  which  seldom  leaves  me  in  any 
lively  sensation  of  Hfe  for  two  days  together,"  He 
begs  once  again  for  the  return  of  his  letters,  having 
before  his  eyes  the  fear  of  a  rascally  bookseller, 
who  had  lately  printed  some  that  were  very  unfit 
to  see  the  light.  This  is  an  allusion  to  a  small 
collection  of  his  youthful  letters  to  Henry  Cromwell, 
which  had  been  sold  by  that  gentleman's  ex-mistress, 
Mrs.  Thomas,  to  Curll,  and  published  the  previous 
year.  They  attracted  a  good  deal  of  attention  at 
the  time — admiration  from  the  poet's  friends  for 
their  noble  sentiments  and  reprobation  from  his 
enemies  for  certain  loose  expressions.  Fenton, 
commenting  on  the  volume  in  a  letter  to  Broome, 
remarks  ironically  that  he  is  delighted  with  nothing 
more  than  with  "  that  air  of  sincerity,  those  pro- 
fessions of  esteem  and  respect,  and  that  deference 
paid  to  his  friend's  judgment  in  poetry,  which  I 
have  sometimes  seen  expressed  to  others,  and  I 
doubt  not  with  the  same  cordial  affection." 

Pope  openly  declared  that  the  letters  must  have 
been  stolen,  since  Cromwell  at  first  denied  that  he 
had  given  them  away  ;  but  Mrs.  Thomas  wrote  to 
her  former  protector  to  explain  that  she  had  lent 
some  of  them  to  an  ingenious  person,  who  was  so 
dehghted  with  them  that  he  had  conveyed  them 
to  the  press,  not  altogether  with  her  consent  nor 
wholly  without  it.     She  had  thought  them  too  good 

VOL     I  22 


33^  Mr.  Pope 

to  be   lost   in   oblivion,  and    did    not    imagine   that 
their  publication  would  annoy  anybody. 

"  The  public,  viz.  all  persons  of  taste  and 
judgment,"  she  argues,  "  would  be  pleased  with  so 
agreeable  an  amusement  ;  Mr.  Cromwell  could  not 
be  angry  since  it  was  but  justice  to  his  merit  to 
publish  the  solemn  and  private  professions  of  love, 
gratitude,  and  veneration  made  him  by  so  celebrated 
an  author  ;  and  surely  Mr.  Pope  ought  not  to  resent 
the  publication,  since  the  early  pregnancy  of  his 
genius  was  no  dishonour  to  his  character.  And  yet, 
had  either  of  you  been  asked,  common  modesty 
would  have  obliged  you  to  refuse  what  you  would  not 
be  displeased  with,  if  done  without  your  knowledge. 
And  besides — to  end  all  dispute — you  had  been 
pleased  to  make  me  a  free  gift  of  them,  to  do  what 
I  pleased  with  them.   .   .   ." 

On  July  6  Cromwell  wrote  to  explain  to  Pope 
that  when  Dennis  had  charged  him  with  giving  the 
letters  to  a  mistress,  he  had  positively  denied  it  ;  but, 
when  other  letters  addressed  to  "  Sappho  "  appeared 
in  the  papers,  he  began  to  fear  that  he  must  be 
guilty.  He  says  that  he  has  not  seen  "  Sappho  "  for 
seven  years,  and  that  her  assertion  that  he  had  given 
her  the  letters  to  do  as  she  would  with  them  is 
straining  the  point  too  far. 

"  The  great  value  she  expresses  for  all  you 
write,"  he  continues,  "  and  her  passion  for  having 
them,  I  believe,  was  what  prevailed  upon  me  to  let 
her  keep  them.  ...  As  people  in  great  straits 
bring  forth  from  their  hoards  of  old  gold  and 
most  valued  jewels,  so  Sappho  had  recourse  to 
her  hid  treasure  of  letters,  and  played  off  not  only 


Gay^s  Refusal  of  a  Place  at  Court     339 

yours  to  me,  but  all  those  to  herself,  as  the  lady's 
last  stake,  into  the  press.  As  for  me,  I  hope  when 
you  shall  coolly  consider  the  many  thousand  in- 
stances of  our  being  deluded  by  the  females, 
since  that  great  original  of  Adam  by  Eve,  you 
will  have  a  more  favourable  thought  of  the  unde- 
signing  error  of  your  faithful  friend  and  humble 
servant." 

George  II.  was  crowned  on  October  ii.  A  little 
later  the  queen's  household  was  settled,  and  Gay, 
who  for  so  long  had  waited  open-mouthed  for  a 
place,  was  appointed  Gentleman-usher  to  the  little 
Princess  Louisa,  a  child  of  two.  Though  the  post 
was  practically  a  sinecure,  worth  ^150  a  year.  Gay 
foolishly  refused  it  on  the  ground  of  his  advanced 
age — he  being  then  thirty-nine.  In  reality,  he  was 
bitterly  disappointed  at  not  having  been  offered  a 
place  of  more  importance,  after  twelve  years'  patient 
attendance  on  Court  favour.  His  friends  were  ill- 
advised  enough  to  applaud  his  independent  spirit, 
though  that  independence  left  him  at  the  mercy  of 
fortune. 

Pope  wrote  a  long  congratulatory  letter  to  Gay 
on  this  "  happy  dismission  from  Court  dependence." 
He  expects  to  find  his  friend  the  better  and 
honester  man  for  it  many  years  hence,  and  probably 
the  healthfuller  and  cheerfuller  into  the  bargain. 
"  Princes  and  peers  (the  lackeys  of  princes),  and 
ladies  (the  fools  of  peers),  will  smile  on  you  less  ; 
but  men  of  worth,  and  real  friends,  will  look  on 
you  the  better.  The  only  steps  to  the  favour  of  the 
great  are  such  complacencies,  such  compliances,  such 
distant  decorums,  as  delude  them  in  their  vanities,  as 


340  Mr.  Pope 

engage  them  in  their  passions.^  He  is  their  greatest 
favourite  who  is  the  falsest  ;  and  when  a  man,  by 
such  vile  gradations,  arrives  at  the  height  of  grandeur 
and  power,  he  is  then  at  best  but  in  a  circumstance 
to  be  hated  and  in  a  condition  to  be  hanged  for 
serving  their  ends."  The  letter  concludes  with  the 
promise  :  "  While  I  have  a  shilling  you  shall  have 
sixpence,  nay,  eightpence,  if  I  can  contrive  to  live 
upon  a  groat." 

Swift,  being  urged  by  Pope  to  congratulate  Gay 
upon  his  folly,  wrote  a  poetical  epistle,  in  the  course 
of  which  he  indignantly  inquires  : 

Say,  had  the  Court  no  better  place  to  choose 

For  thee,  than  make  a  day -nurse  of  thy  Muse  ? 

How  cheaply  had  thy  liberty  been  sold 

To  squire  a  royal  girl  of  two  years  old  ; 

In  leading-strings  her  infant  steps  to  guide. 

Or  with  her  go-cart  amble  by  her  side  ! 

*■  This  comes  strangely  enough  from   a   man   who   gloried   in 
his  familiarity  with  "  great  men." 


CHAPTER    XXXIII 

1728 

**  The  Beggar^s  Opera  ** — Third  Volume  of  the 
''  Miscellanies' —''  The  Bathos '—Counter^ 
attacks 

THE  year  1728  was  an  eventful  one  in  the 
chronicle  of  Pope's  life,  as  also  in  that  of  his 
nearest  friends.  It  was  the  year  of  "  The  Dunciad," 
T/ie  Beggar  s  Opera,  and  the  famous  third  volume 
of  the  "  Miscellanies."  "  Gulliver's  Travels  "  was 
still  "  the  book  of  the  day  "  in  London  and  Dublin. 
It  is  remarkable  that  three  intimate  friends  should, 
in  the  space  of  nine  months,  have  produced  three 
works  of  sensational  popularity,  and  that  two  out 
of  the  three  should  have  attained  a  lasting  fame. 

It  had  been  an  open  secret  for  some  time  past 
that  Pope  was  engaged  on  a  poem  called  "  Dulness," 
and  Swift,  who  had  seen  it  in  manuscript,  and 
knew  that  it  contained  a  complimentary  address  to 
himself,  was  eager  for  its  appearance.  Pope,  how- 
ever, had  his  own  reasons  for  holding  it  back,  and 
The  Beggar  s  Opera  was  allowed  the  precedence. 

"  John  Gay's  opera  is  just  on  the  point  of 
delivery,"  wrote  Pope    to    Swift  in    January.     "  It 

341 


342  Mr.  Pope 

may  be  called,  considering  its  subject,  a  jail-delivery. 
.  .  .  Whether  it  succeeds  or  not,  it  will  make  a 
great  noise,  but  whether  in  claps  or  hisses  I  know 
not.  At  worst,  it  is  in  its  own  nature  a  thing 
which  he  can  lose  no  reputation  by,  as  he  lays 
none  upon  it." 

The  "  great  noise  "  proved  to  be  of  claps,  not 
hisses,  and  on  February  1 5  Gay  was  able  to  send 
a  glowing  account  of  the  success  of  his  work, 
which  was  being  acted  to  crowded  houses  every 
night.  It  had  the  then  extraordinary  run  of  thirty- 
two  consecutive  nights,  and  was  played,  in  all, 
sixty-two  nights  in  the  course  of  the  season.  In  the 
letter  to  Swift  Gay  congratulates  himself  on  having 
"  made  no  interest  either  for  approbation  or  money, 
nor  has  anybody  been  pressed  to  take  tickets  for 
my  benefits,  notwithstanding  which  I  think  I  shall 
make  an  addition  to  my  fortune  of  between  six  and 
seven  hundred  pounds.  .  .  .  Lord  Cobham  says 
that  I  should  have  printed  it  (the  opera)  in  Italian 
over  against  the  English,  that  the  ladies  might  have 
understood  what  they  read.  The  outlandish  (as 
they  now  call  it)  opera  has  been  so  thin  of  late 
that  some  have  called  that  *  The  Beggar's  Opera,' 
and  if  the  run  continues  I  fear  I  shall  have  re- 
monstrances drawn  up  against  me  by  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Music." 

Swift  was  anxious,  according  to  his  wont,  that 
Gay  should  make  the  best  of  his  success,  and 
husband  his  fortune.  He  hopes  that  Gay  has 
dedicated  his  opera,  and  got  the  usual  fee  of  twenty 
guineas.  He  ought  also  to  buy  an  annuity,  and 
put  a  ring-fence  round  his  little  capital.     The  dean 


**The  Beggar^s  Opera''  343 

is  annoyed  at  the  idea  that  ^'  the  dog  Rich,"  Gay's 
impresario,  should  make  three  or  four  thousand 
pounds  by  sitting  still  ;  he  ought  certainly  to  make 
his  author  a  present  of  two  or  three  hundred 
guineas.  The  Beggar  s  Opera  presently  found 
its  way  to  Ireland,  where  it  "  knocked  down 
'  Gulliver,' "  and  was  continually  acted,  the  house 
being  crammed,  and  the  Lord-Lieutenant  "  laughing 
his  heart  out." 

The  popularity  of  the  work  was  increased  by 
stories  about  the  way  the  ministers  took  the  political 
allusions,  and  rumours  concerning  the  love-affairs 
of  the  famous  Polly  Peachem  (Miss  Fenton),  who 
eventually  become  Duchess  of  Bolton.  The  opera 
was  preached  against  as  well  as  applauded,  and 
while  Swift  declared  that  to  expose  vice  and  make 
people  laugh  with  innocence  did  more  good  than 
all  the  ministers  of  State  from  Adam  to  Walpole, 
there  were  not  wanting  sober  heads  who  averred 
that  the  hero-worship  of  Macheath  and  his  fellows 
made  highway  robbery  a  fascinating  profession,  and 
that  every  time  the  work  was  performed  it  sent  a 
thief  to  the  gallows. 

Early  in  the  year  Pope  told  the  dean  that  the 
third  volume  of  their  "  Miscellanies  "  was  shortly 
to  appear,  among  the  contents  being  "  The 
Bathos  ;  ^  or,  the  Art  of  Sinking  in  Poetry," 
which  he  has  entirely  methodised,  and  "  in  a  manner 
written  it  all."  He  is  sorry  that  he  cannot  yet 
send  his  chef-d'ceuvre,  the  poem  on  "  Dulness," 
which,  after  he  is  dead  and  gone,  will  be  printed 
with  a  large  commentary,  and  lettered  on  the  back 
1  Also  called  "  The  Profund." 


344  Mr,  Pope 

"  Pope's  Dulness."  He  sends  the  "  Address  "  to 
Swift,  however,  which  he  begs  his  friend  to  consider, 
reconsider,  criticise,  hypercriticise,  and  consult  about 
with  Sheridan,  Delany,  and  all  the  "  literary  of 
Dublin."! 

A  month  later  Bolingbroke  writes  that  Pope's 
"  Dulness  "  grows  and  flourishes.  "  It  will  indeed 
be  a  noble  work  ;  the  many  will  stare  at  it,  the 
few  will  smile,  and  all  his  patrons,  from  '  Bicker- 
staff'  to  'Gulliver,'  will  rejoice  to  see  themselves 
adorned  in  that  immortal  piece."  All  this  whetted 
Swift's  interest  and  curiosity.  "  Now  why  does  not 
Mr.  Pope  publish  his  '  Dulness  '  ?  "  he  asked  Gay. 
"  The  rogues  he  mawls  will  die  of  themselves  in 
peace,  and  so  will  his  friends,  and  so  there  will  be 
neither  punishment  nor  reward." 

Pope's  reason  for  delaying  the  appearance  of 
"  The  Dunciad "  seems  to  have  been  due  to  his 
desire  that  so  tremendous  a  satire  should  have  more 
justification  for  its  existence  than  the  skits  which 
hadi  already  appeared  against  him.  Pie  published 
the  third  volume  of  the  "Miscellanies"  in  March,  in 
the  hope  that  the  personal  attacks  in  "  The  Bathos  " 
would  "  draw "  the  various  writers  ridiculed.  It 
was  a  case  of  "  Will  you  tread  on  the  tail  of  my 
coat  ?  " 

The  satire  was,   In  the   main,  as  legitimate   as   it 

'  And  thou  !  whose  sense,  whose  humour,  and  whose  rage 
At  once  can  teach,  dehght,  and  lash  the  age, 
Whether  thou  choose  Cervantes'  serious  air. 
Or  laugh  and  shake  in  Rabelais'  easy  chair  ; 
Praise  courts  and  monarchs,  or  extol  mankind  ; 
Or  thy  grieved  country's  copper  chains  unbind  ; 
Attend,  whatever  title  please  thine  ear. 
Dean,  Drapier,  Bickerstaff,  or  Gulliver. 


/'    '■,//.-.  ••••  /      / 


I>oni  a  mezzotint  l-j-  J.  Simon  after  tlie  paintiui^  hy  M.  Dalil,  1727. 

ALEXANDER    POPE   AT   THE   AGE   OF   38. 


Third  Volume  of  the  ''Miscellanies''    345 

was  lively,  but  there  was  one  section  which  con- 
sisted merely  of  stupid  personalities.  This  deals 
with  the  several  kinds  of  geniuses  in  "  The  Pro- 
fund,"  and  the  marks  and  characters  of  each.  The 
writers  are  compared  to  various  species  of  birds, 
fishes,  and  reptiles,  and  the  initials  of  their  names 
in  each  case  are  given.  Pope  afterwards  declared 
that  he  had  put  the  letters  at  random.  The 
poet's  old  enemies  appear  among  them — Dennis, 
Gildon,  and  Oldmixon,  as  porpoises,  Ambrose 
Philips  as  a  tortoise,  Webster  and  Theobald  as 
eels,  Edward  Ward  and  James  Moore  (afterwards 
Moore-Smythe)  as  frogs.  The  unfortunate  Broome, 
who  had  done  so  much  for  Pope,  signed  a  false 
postscript,  giving  up  the  credit  of  five  books,  and 
furnished  the  notes  to  the  "  Iliad  "  gratis,  appears 
both  as  a  parrot  and  a  tortoise,  A  couplet  from 
Broome's  "  Epistle  to  Fenton  "  is  also  quoted  in 
the  chapter  on  "  The  True  Genius  for  the  Profund, 
and  by  what  it   is  constituted." 

But  Blackmore  is  the  chief  victim,  the  majority 
of  lines  quoted  in  illustration  of  *'  The  Bathos  " 
being  taken  from  his  poems.  Blackmore's  crime 
had  been  that,  in  his  "  Essay  on  Polite  Writing " 
(17 1 7)  he  had  said,  after  alluding  with  abhorrence 
to  profane  wit,  "  I  cannot  but  here  take  notice  that 
one  of  these  champions  of  vice  is  the  reputed 
author  of  a  detestable  paper  that  has  lately  been 
handed  about  in  manuscript,  and  now  appears  in 
print,  in  which  the  godless  author  has  burlesqued 
the  First  Psalm  of  David  in  so  obscene  and  profane 
a  manner  that  perhaps  no  age  ever  saw  such  an 
insolent   affront  to  the  established  religion  of  their 


34^  Mr.  Pope 

country,  and  this,  good  heaven !  with  impunity. 
A  sad  demonstration,  this,  of  the  low  ebb  to  which 
British  virtue  is  reduced  in  these  degenerate 
times." 

Next  to  Blackmore,  Theobald  was  the  main  butt. 
Pope  had  nursed  his  wrath  against  "  the  Restorer  " 
of  Shakespeare  for  two  years,  and  he  now  gave 
vent  to  his  spleen,  hoping  no  doubt,  that  Theobald 
would  retaliate  as  viciously,  and  thus  justify  his 
election  as  hero  of  "  The  Dunciad."  Several 
quotations  are  made  from  passages  in  Theobald's 
plays  to  illustrate  the  art  of  sinking  in  poetry, 
but  the  most  venomous,  as  also  the  most  brilliant, 
onslaught  is  made  in  some  lines  entitled  "  A  Frag- 
ment of  a  Satire."  These  contain,  besides  "  The 
Character  of  Addison,"  the  almost  equally  famous 
passage  relating  to  such  verbal  critics  as  Sewell  and 
Theobald.  After  a  slash  at  Gildon  and  Dennis, 
the  satirist  continues  : 

Did  some  more  sober  critic  come  abroad — 

If  wrong,  I  smiled  ;  if  right,  I  kissed  the  rod. 

Pains,  reading,  study,  are  their  just  pretence, 

And  all  they  want  is  spirit,  taste,  and  sense. 

Commas  and  points  they  set  exactly  right, 

And  'twere  a  sin  to  rob  them  of  their  mite  ; 

In  future  ages  how  their  fame  will  spread 

For  writing  triplets  and  restoring  ed : 

Yet  ne'er  one  sprig  of  laurel  graced  these  ribalds, 

From  sanguine  Sew  (ell)  ^  down  to  piddling  Tibbalds  : 

^  George  Sewell,  a  dramatic  writer,  who  had  the  temerity  to 
publish  a  seventh  volume  of  "  Shakespeare,"  as  a  supplement 
to  Pope's  edition.  When  the  satire  was  embodied  in  the  "Epistle 
to  Arbuthnot,"  Bentley  took  the  place  of  Sewell,  and  the  line 
ran  : 

From  slashing  Bentley  down  to  piddling  Tibbalds. 


Counter-attacks  347 

Each  wight  who  reads  not,  and  but  scans  and  spells, 
Each  word-catcher  that  lives  on  syllables, 
Even  such  small  critics  some  regard  may  claim, 
Preserved  in  Milton's  or  in  Shakespeare's  name. 
Pretty  !  in  amber  to  observe  the  forms 
Of  hair,  or  straws,  or  dirt,  or  grubs,  or  worms  ! 
The  things,  we  know,  are  neither  rich  nor  rare, 
But  wonder  how  the  devil  they  got  there. 


It  is  generally  believed,  owing  to  the  industry 
with  which  Pope  propagated  the  story,  that  the 
press  and  booksellers'  shops  were  flooded  with 
scurrilous  pamphlets,  articles,  and  letters  from  victims 
of  "  The  Bathos,"  all  aimed  at  the  character  or 
person  of  their  persecutor.  But  this  is  a  gross 
exaggeration.  In  the  two  months  that  elapsed 
between  the  publication  of  the  "  Miscellanies  "  and 
the  appearance  of  "  The  Dunciad,"  the  more  cele- 
brated of  the  persons  satirised  kept  silence,  while 
the  so-called  "  attacks  "  which  found  their  way  into 
the  papers  were  few  in  number,  and,  with  one  or 
two  exceptions,  of  slight  importance. 

A  temperate  and  dignified  letter  from  Theobald 
appeared  in  Mist's  Journal  for  April  27.  If  Pope 
is  angry  with  him  for  having  attempted  to  restore 
Shakespeare,  he  hopes  that  the  public  is  not,  and 
trusts  that  his  sheets  may  awaken  his  rival  editor 
to  same  degree  of  accuracy  in  his  next  edition. 
He  had  treated  him  with  deference,  even  tender- 
ness, but  to  set  anything  right  after  Mr.  Pope  had 
adjusted  the  whole  was  a  presumption  not  to  be 
forgiven.  As  his  "  Remarks  on  the  whole  Works 
of  Shakespeare "  would  closely  attend  upon  the 
publication    of    Pope's    second    edition,    Theobald 


348  Mr.  Pope 

ventured  to  promise  he  would  then  give  above 
five  hundred  more  emendations  that  would  escape 
Mr.  Pope  and  all  his  assistants.  He  steadily  refused 
to  make  any  answer  to  the  personal  attacks  against 
himself.  Blackmore,  Defoe,  Ducket,  Aaron  Hill, 
Philips,  Ward,  and  Welsted  made  no  answer  at 
this  time. 

In  a  very  different  vein  was  Dennis's  reply. 
When  it  came  to  playing  with  initial  letters,  he 
too  could  take  a  hand  in  the  game.  For  example, 
the  letters  A.P-e  gave  the  same  idea  of  an  ape 
as  the  "  little  gentleman's  "  face,  shape,  and  stature, 
while  his  nature  was  as  ludicrously  mischievous  as  a 
monkey's.  Dennis  scoffs  at  the  report  that  this 
"  animalculas  of  an  author "  was  writing  "  The 
Progress  of  Dulness,"  since  those  who  had 
read  his  books  had  already  seen  the  progress  of 
dulness. 

But  the  most  damaging  counter-attack  was  one 
which  appeared  in  Mist's  Journal  for  March  30, 
by  a  writer  whose  identity  has  never  been  discovered. 
Pope  attributed  it  to  Theobald,  but  it  is  quite 
unlike  Theobald's  style.  Entitled  "  An  Essay  on  the 
Art  of  a  Poet's  sinking  in  Reputation,"  the  author 
gives  advice  as  to  the  manner  in  which  this  feat 
may  best  be  performed.  He  should  throw  out 
frequent  compositions  in  the  three  different  styles 
of  the  Vituperative,  the  Prurient,  and  the  Atheistical, 
while  he  should  dedicate  the  Prurient  to  a  patroness 
of  unquestioned  virtue.  In  revising,  let  him  forget 
even  to  discharge  the  dull  duty  of  an  editor,  and 
when  he  is  upon  such  a  project  let  him  generously 
lend  the  disadvantage  of  his  name  to  promote  the 


Counter-attacks  349 

discredit  of  an  exorbitant  subscription.  He  should 
push  upon  the  world  three  new  "  Miscellany " 
volumes  of  old  and  second-hand  wares.  He  should 
descend  into  Homer  without  understanding  the 
meaning  of  Greek,  and  get  a  great  part  of  his 
work  done  by  assistants.  This  satire  annoyed 
Pope  more  than  any  other  attack,  and  he  took  a 
good  deal  of  trouble  to  clear  himself  of  the  charges 
brought  against  him, 

Fenton  was  delighted  with  the  paper,  which,  he 
tells  Broome,  was  evidently  written  by  one  who 
had  studied  and  understood  the  poet.  Fenton  had 
not  then  seen  the  "  Miscellanies,"  but  was  very  much 
surprised  to  hear  that  Broome  had  been  traduced 
by  a  person  from  whom  he  could  little  expect  such 
ungenerous  treatment.  If  Broome  does  not  intend 
to  answer  the  challenge  publicly,  the  sullen  silence 
of  Ajax  will  be  the  most  manly  revenge.  Broome 
had  been  deeply  hurt  by  Pope's  ingratitude,  though 
he  was  too  weak  or  too  timid  to  take  up  the  cudgels 
in  his  own  defence,  whether  privately  or  publicly. 
But  he  complained  bitterly  to  Fenton.  Pope,  he 
says,  has  now  raised  a  spirit  against  him,  which 
he  will  not  easily  conjure  down.  "  He  now  keeps 
his  Muse  as  wizards  are  said  to  keep  tame  devils, 
only  to  send  them  abroad  to  plague  their  neigh- 
bours. 1  often  resemble  him  to  a  hedgehog  ;  he 
wraps  himself  up  in  his  down,  lies  snug  and  warm, 
and  sets  his  bristles  out  against  all  mankind.  Sure 
he  is  fond  of  being  hated.  1  wonder  he  is  not 
thrashed,  but  his  littleness  is  his  protection.   ..." 

Broome  declared  that  he  would  keep  silence  then, 
but  would  leave  behind  him  memorials  that  would 


3S^  Mr.  Pope 

make  posterity  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the 
false  statements  about  the  "  Odyssey,"  and  con- 
cludes :  "  With  respect  to  Mr.  Pope,  I  have  found 
him  what  you  always  affirmed  him  to  be — a  most 
insincere  person." 


CHAPTER   XXXIV 
1728 

*^The  Dunciad** 

ON  May  18,  1728,  appeared  the  first  edition 
of  "  The  Dunciad,"  but  without  the  author's 
name  or  the  inscription  to  Swift.  Pope  was  always 
willing  to  wound,  and  seldom  afraid  to  strike,  but 
he  shrank  from  the  natural  consequences  of  his 
own  violence.  As  a  measure  of  protection,  it  was 
stated  on  the  title-page  that  the  book  was  printed 
in  Dublin  and  reprinted  in  London,  while  the 
publisher  bore  the  unknown  name  of  A.  Dodd. 
There  was  a  frontispiece  representing  an  owl  sitting 
on  a  pile  of  books,  which  consisted  of  "  Dennis's 
Works,"  "Gibber's  Plays,"  "Shakespeare  Restored," 
and  Blackmore's  "  Prince  Arthur."  The  Prefatory 
Address  from  the  Publisher  to  the  Reader  is  a  curious 
composition,  and  deserves  some  examination,  since  it 
was  certainly  written  by  Pope. 

The  publisher  observes  that  when  any  scandal  is 
vented  against  a  man  of  the  highest  distinction  and 
character,  the  public  afford  it  a  quiet,  and  even 
favourable,  reception,  whereas  if  a  known  scoundrel 
is  touched  upon  a  whole  legion  is  up  in  arms. 
For   the  last  two   months   the   town  had  been  per- 

351 


35^  Mr.  Pope 

secuted  with  pamphlets,  letters,  and  essays  against 
the  writings  and  character  of  Mr.  Pope,  yet  not 
one  of  those  who  had  received  pleasure  from  his 
works — by  a  modest  computation  about  a  hundred 
thousand — had  stood  up  to  say  a  word  in  his 
defence.  The  only  exception  was  the  author  of 
the  following  poem.  The  pubhsher  professes  to 
be  in  ignorance  of  his  identity,  but  observes  that 
he  had  evidently  lived  in  peculiar  intimacy  with 
Mr.  Pope,  whose  style  he  had  to  some  extent 
imitated.  The  reader  was  evidently  intended  to 
draw  the  inference  that  Swift  was  the  author.  It 
is  further  stated  that  this  work  was  the  labour  of 
full  six  years  of  the  author's  life,  and  that  he  had 
retired  himself  from  all  the  avocations  and  pleasures 
of  the  world  to  attend  diligently  to  its  correction  and 
perfection.  The  time  and  date  of  the  action  were 
evidently  laid  in  the  preceding  reign,  when  the 
office  of  City  Poet  expired  upon  the  death  of 
Elkanah  Settle,^  and  the  author  had  chosen  the  year 
of  Sir  George  Thorold's  mayoralty — 1720 — but  the 
writers  satirised  had  been  clapped  in  as  they  rose, 
and  changed  from  day  to  day,  so  that  there  might 
be  some  obscurity  in  the  chronology. 

From  an  account  afterwards  published  by  Savage, 
as  the  mouthpiece  of  Pope,    it    would    appear    that 

*  Elkanah  Settle  (1648-1724)  was  appointed  City  Poet  in  1691. 
He  was  known  as  a  writer  of  heavy,  bombastic  dramas,  of  which  the 
most  successful  was  Cambyses,  King-  of  Persia.  Dryden,  alarmed 
at  his  popularity,  satirised  him  in  the  second  part  of  "  Absalom  and 
Achitophel."  In  his  later  years  Settle  fell  upon  evil  times.  He 
was  reduced  to  writing  burlesques  for  Bartholomew  Fair,  and  is 
said  to  have  played  the  part  of  a  dragon  in  one  of  his  own  "drolls." 
He  died  in  the  Charterhouse. 


THE 


DUNCIAD, 

V  A  RI  ORVM. 

\VITH    THE 

TROLEGOMENA  of  SCmBLIRUS. 


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Facsimile  of  title-pag:e  of  an  early  edition. 


'^The  Dunciad"  353 

the  hack  writers  who  took  to  themselves  the  initials, 
gave  Mr.  Pope  the  thought  that  he  had  now  some 
opportunity  of  "  doing  good "  by  detecting  and 
dragging  into  light  these  common  enemies  of  man- 
kind, since  to  invalidate  this  universal  slander  it 
sufficed  to  show  what  contemptible  men  were  the 
authors  of  it.  *'  He  was  not  without  hopes  that, 
by  manifesting  the  dulness  of  those  who  had  only 
malice  to  recommend  them,  either  the  booksellers 
would  not  find  their  account  in  employing  them,  or 
the  men  themselves,  when  discovered,  want  courage 
to  proceed  in  so  unlawful  an  occupation.  This  it 
was  that  gave  birth  to  *  The  Dunciad,'  and  he 
thought  it  a  happiness  that,  by  the  late  flood  af 
slander  on  himself,  he  had  acquired  such  a  peculii 
right  over  their  names  as  was  necessary  to  th 
design.  ...  It  is  certainly  a  true  observation,  that 
no  people  are  so  impatient  of  censure  as  those  who 
are  the  greatest  slanderers  ;  which  was  wonderfully 
exemplified  on  this  occasion.  On  the  day  the  book 
was  first  vended  a  crowd  of  authors  besieged  the 
shop  ;  entreaties,  advices,  threats  of  law  and  battery, 
nay,  cries  of  *  Treason,'  were  all  employed  to 
hinder  the  coming  out  of  '  The  Dunciad '  ;  on 
the  other  side,  the  booksellers  and  hawkers  made 
as  great  efforts  to  procure  it  :  what  could  a  few 
poor  authors  do  against  so  great  a  majority  as  the 
public  ?  "  ^ 

"  The    Dunciad  "    was    obviously    founded    on 
Dryden's  satire  "  Mac  Flecknoe,"  which  deals  with 

'  This  garbled  and  exaggerated  account  formed  the  Introduction 
to  "A  Collection  of  pieces  in  Prose  and  Verse  which  have  been 
published  on  the  Occasion  of 'The  Dunciad'"  (1732). 
VOL.    I  23 


I 


354  Mr.  Pope 

the  appointment  of  Shadwell  ^  to  succeed  Flecknoe^ 
as  monarch  of  the  kingdom  of  Dulness.  In  1713 
Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu  had  begun  a  poem 
about  Dulness,  of  which  a  fragment  is  printed  in 
her  poetical  works.  She  and  Pope,  when  on  terms 
of  intimacy,  may  have  discussed  together  the  project 
of  a  sustained  satire  on  this  promising  subject. 

The  original  edition  of  "  The  Dunciad  "  was  only 
in  three  books.  The  first  book  opens  (after  the 
exordium)  with  a  description  of  the  Temple  of  the 
Goddess  of  Dulness,  a  yawning  ruin  near  Rag  Fair. 

Here  she  beholds  the  chaos  dark  and  deep 
Where  nameless  somethings  in  their  causes  sleep  : 
Till  genial  Jacob  or  a  warm  third  day 
Calls  forth  each  mass,  a  poem,  or  a  play  : 
How  hints,  like  spawn,  scarce  quick  in  embryo  lie, 
How  new-born  nonsense  first  is  taught  to  cry  ; 
Maggots  half-formed  in  rhyme  exactly  meet, 
And  learn  to  crawl  upon  poetic  feet. 

It  was  on  the  evening  of  Lord  Mayor's  Day,  when 
Thorold  had  triumphed  both  on  land  and  wave. 

Now  night  descending,  the  proud  scene  w^as  o'er, 
But  lived  in  Settle's  numbers  one  day  more.^ 

*  Thomas  Shadwell,  the  dramatist  (1642-92).  He  succeeded 
his  old  enemy,  Dryden,  as  Poet  Laureate  at  the  time  of  the 
Revolution. 

^  Richard  Flecknoe,  a  poet  and  traveller.  His  name  would 
long  since  have  been  forgotten  were  it  not  for  Dryden's  satire. 

^  Tennyson  spoke  of  satire  in  general :  "  It's  quite  dreadful  to 
think  of  how  satire  will  endure,  no  matter  how  unfair,  if  well 
written.     Look  at  Pope — 

Now  night  descending,  the  proud  scene  was  o'er, 
But  lived  in  Settle's  numbers  one  day  more. 

The  perfection  of  that  brings  the  tears  into  one's  eyes — and  it 
pillories  Settle  for  ever."  (Quoted  from  William  Allingham's 
"Diaries.") 


i( 


The  Dunciad''  355 


Now  mayors  and  shrieves  in  pleasing  slumber  lay, 
And  eat  in  dreams  the  custard  of  the  day  ; 
But  pensive  poets  painful  vigils  keep, 
Sleepless  themselves  to  give  their  readers  sleep. 

The  solemn  feast  recalls  many  fond  memories  to 
the  goddess's  mind,  her  glories  in  the  past,  and  the 
successes  of  her  distinguished  sons,  Eusden,  Black- 
more,  Philips,  Dennis,  and  their  fellows.  Looking 
about  for  a  worthy  successor  to  Settle,  her  glance 
fell  upon  Tibbald  (Theobald). 

She  eyed  the  bard  where  supperless  he  sate 
And  pined,  unconscious  of  his  rising  fate  ; 
Studious  he  sate,  with  all  his  books  around. 
Sinking  from  thought  to  thought,  a  vast  profound  ; 
Plunged  for  his  sense,  but  found  no  bottom  there  : 
Then  writ  and  floundered  on,  in  mere  despair. 

A  description  of  Tibbald's  Gothic  library  follows, 
with  its  folios  and  black-letter  editions — 

The  classics  of  an  age  that  heard  of  none. 

The  hero  addresses  a  solemn  invocation  to  the 
goddess,  whose  champion  he  constitutes  himself,  and 
implores  her  to  stretch  out  her  peaceful  wand  over 
Britain,  and  "  secure  us  kindly  in  our  native  night." 
He  describes  in  eloquent  terms  his  own  services 
in  her  good  old  cause  : 

Here,  studious,  I  unlucky  moderns  save. 
Nor  sleeps  one  error  in  its  father's  grave  ; 
Old  puns  restore,  lost  blunders  nicely  seek. 
And  crucify  poor  Shakespeare  once  a  week. 
For  thee  I  dim  these  eyes  and  stuff  this  head 
With  all  such  reading  as  was  never  read ; 
For  thee  supplying,  in  the  worst  of  days. 
Notes  to  dull  books  and  prologues  to  dull  plays ; 


35^  Mr.  Pope 

For  thee  explain  a  thing  till  all  men  doubt  it, 
And  write  about  it,  goddess,  and  about  it. 

Theobald  fears  that  the  end  of  the  empire  of 
Dulness  is  approaching,  owing  to  the  death  of 
Settle.  He  resolves,  like  Curtius,  to  plunge  for  the 
public  weal,  and  devote  himself  henceforth  to  the 
service  of  the  good  cause.  He  builds  an  altar,  and 
is  about  to  offer  up  his  books  as  a  sacrifice,  when 
the  goddess  appears  and  extinguishes  the  flames  with 
a  sheet  of  *'  Thule."  ^  She  bids  Theobald  attend  her 
to  the  sacred  dome,  and  here  shows  her  chosen 
all  her  favourite  works,  and  the  methods  by  which 
her  followers  attain  her  ends  : 

How,  with  less  reading  than  makes  felons  'scape, 
Less  human  genius  than  God  gives  an  ape. 
Small  thanks  to  France,  and  none  to  Rome  or  Greece, 
A  past,  vamped,  future,  old,  revived,  new  piece. 
'Twixt  Plautus,  Fletcher,  Congreve  and  Corneille 
Can  make  a  Gibber,  Johnson,  or  Ozell.^ 

The  goddess  here  anoints  Theobald  as  successor 
to  Settle,  and  as  the  ruler  who  is  to  lead  her  sons 
to  lands  that  flow  with  clenches  ^  and  with  puns  : 

"Till  each  famed  theatre  my  empire  own, 

Till  Albion,  as  Hibernia,  bless  my  throne. 

I  see  !     I  see  !  "     Then  rapt,  she  spoke  no  more. 

"  God  save  King  Tibbald  !  "  Grub  Street  alleys  roar. 

The    king    having    been     duly    proclaimed,     the 

•  An  unfinished  poem  of  Ambrose  Philips. 

-  John  Ozell.  He  was  an  accountant  by  profession,  and  became 
Auditor-General  to  the  City  of  London.  He  translated  Boileau's 
"  Lutrin "  and  Perrault's  "  Characters."  He  is  the  subject  of 
some  satirical  lines  by  Pope,  entitled  "The  Translator." 

'  The  word  "  clench,"  or,  as  it  was  more  often  spelt,  "  clinch," 
seems  to  have  meant  much  the  same  as  a  pun. 


**Thc  Dundad''  357 

ceremony  is  graced  by  public  games  and  competitions, 
instituted  by  the  goddess  in  person.^  Hither  flock 
poets  and  patrons,  critics,  party-writers,  and  book- 
sellers. 

A  motley  mixture  !  in  long  wigs,  in  bags, 

In  silks,  in  crapes,  in  garters,  and  in  rags ; 

From  drawing-rooms,  from  colleges,  and  from  garrets. 

On  horse,  on  foot,  in  hacks  and  gilded  chariots. 

The  games  open  with  a  race  for  booksellers,  and 
the  goddess  puts  up  a  "  poet's  form  "  as  the  prize, 
no  meagre,  muse-rid  mop — 

But  such  a  bulk  as  no  twelve  bards  could  raise, 
Twelve  starving  bards  of  these  degenerate  days. 
All  as  a  partridge  plump,  full-fed  and  fair, 
She  formed  this  image  of  well-bodied  air, 
With  pert,  flat  eyes  she  windowed  well  its  head, 
A  brain  of  feathers  and  a  heart  of  lead. 
And  empty  words  she  gave,  and  sounding  strain ; 
But  senseless,  lifeless  !     Idol  void  and  vain  ! 
Never  was  dasht  out,  at  one  lucky  hit, 
A  fool,  so  just  a  copy  of  a  wit : 
So  like,  that  critics  said,  and  courtiers  swore, 
A  wit  it  was,  and  called  the  phantom  Moore  !  ^ 

^  Founded  on  the  games  in  the  "  Iliad,"  where  Thetis  herself 
proposed  the  prizes  in  honour  of  Achilles. 

^  James  Moore-Smythe  (1702-34).  He  took  the  name  of 
Smythe  on  inheriting  the  estate  of  an  uncle.  He  was  an  intimate 
friend  and  correspondent  of  the  Blount  sisters.  Pope's  quarrel  with 
him  arose  out  of  an  alleged  act  of  plagiarism.  Moore,  a  fop 
who  desired  to  be  regarded  as  a  wit,  wrote  a  comedy  called  T/ie 
Rival  Modt's,  which  was  produced  in  1727.  He  asked  permission, 
it  is  said,  to  use  six  lines  of  Pope's  from  some  verses  addressed  to 
Martha  Blount  on  her  birthday,  which  appeared  in  the  "  Mis- 
cellanies." These  lines,  which  were  afterwards  incorporated  in  the 
Second  "  Moral  Essay,"  ran  as  follows  : 

'Tis  thus  that  vanity  coquettes  rewards, 
A  youth  of  frolics,  an  old  age  of  cards  ; 


35 8  Mr.  Pope 

Lintot  and  Curll  compete  for  the  prize,  which 
Curll  wins,  but  when  he  stretches  out  his  hand  to 
grasp  the  phantom,  it  melts  from  his  sight.  Curll 
tries  to  seize  its  papers,  but  these,  as  plagiarisms, 
are  whisked  back  to  their  rightful  owners,  Gay, 
Young,  and  Swift.  Even  the  embroidered  suit  is 
snatched  away  by  an  unpaid  tailor,  and  the  book- 
seller is  left  with — 

No  rag,  no  scrap,  of  all  the  beau  or  wit 
That  once  so  fluttered,  and  that  once  so  writ. 

Next  comes  a  tickling-match,  carried  out  by  means 
of  flattering  dedications,  and  a  rich  patron  is  the 
prize.  This  is  followed  by  a  competition  for 
noise  in  general  and  braying  in  particular,  with  a 
drum  and  catcalls  for  the  prizes. 

Now  thousand  tongues  are  heard  in  one  loud  din, 
The  monkey-mimicks  rush  discordant  in  ; 
'Twas  chatt'ring,  grinning,  mouthing,  jabb'ring  all, 
And  R[alph]  ^  and  raihng,  Branghng,  and  B[reval], 


2 


Fair  to  no  purpose,  artful  to  no  end, 
Young  without  lovers,  old  without  a  friend. 
A  fool  their  aim,  their  prize  some  worn-out  sot, 
Alive  ridiculous,  and  dead  forgot. 

Pope  seems  at  first  to  have  consented  that  the  lines  should  be 
used,  but  he  afterwards  changed  his  mind.  Moore,  however, 
introduce  dthem,  together  with  some  lines  from  the  "Essay  on 
Criticism,"  into  his  comedy,  which  they  partially  redeemed  from 
failure.  Thereafter  Pope  seldom  lost  an  opportunity  for  a  slash 
at  Moore-Smythe. 

'  James  Ralph  {c.  1705-62).  A  miscellaneous  writer  born  in 
Pennsylvania,  who  accompanied  Franklin  to  England  in  1724. 
He  was  very  successful  as  a  party-hack,  and  eventually  obtained  a 
pension  of  ^600  a  year. 

-  John  Durant  Breval  {c.  1680- 1738).  Another  miscellaneous 
writer,  who  had  served  in  Flanders  as  a  volunteer.  He  usually 
wrote  under  the  pseudonym  of  Joseph  Gay.     It  may  be  noted  that 


^'The  Dunciad''  359 

D[ennis]  and  dissonance  ;  and  captious  art, 
And  snip-snap  short,  and  interruption  smart. 

In  this  sport  all  alike  are  held  winners,  since  their 
merits  and  din  are  equal,  but  the  brayers'  prize  is 
won  by  Blackmore. 

All  hail  him  victor  in  both  gifts  of  song, 
Who  sings  so  loudly,  and  who  sings  so  long. 

The  competitors  then  descend  by  Bridewell  to 
Fleet  Ditch,  where  the  party-writers  are  bidden  to 
strip  and  leap  in,  and  prove  who  best  can  dash 
through   thick  and   thin — 

And  who  the  most  in  love  of  dirt  excel, 

Or  dark  dexterity  of  groping  well : 

Who  flings  most  mud,  and  wide  pollutes  around 

The  stream,  be  his  the  [London]  Journals,  bound. 

A  pig  of  lead  is  offered  to  him  who  dives  the 
best,  and  "  a  peck  of  coals  a-piece  shall  glad  the 
rest."  Dennis,  Eusden,^  Aaron  Hill,"  Welsted,^ 
and  lesser  wights  compete.     The  prize  is  gained  by 

the  names  of  the  victims  are  not  always  the  same,  but  vary  in 
different  editions  of  "  The  Dunciad." 

'  Laurence  Eusden  (1688-1730),  who  had  been  appointed  Poet 
Laureate  by  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  in  1718. 

-  Aaron  Hill  (1685-1750),  dramatist,  journalist,  inventor,  and 
traveller.  He  had  already  attacked  Pope  in  a  preface  to  his 
poem,  "  The  Northern  Star,"  having  heard  that  Pope  had  dis- 
paraged that  composition.  He  was  afterwards  reconciled  to  the 
poet,  who  treated  him  leniently  in  "The  Bathos,"  and  the  two 
corresponded  amicably  for  several  years. 

3  Leonard  Welsted  (1688-1747).  He  was  one  of  the  many 
minor  poets  who  held  a  small  place  under  Government.  He  had 
satirised  Pope  and  Gay  in  his  poem,  "  The  Triumvirate  ;  or,  a 
Letter  from  Palemon  to  Celia  at  Bath,"  published  as  far  back  as 
1717- 


360  Mr.  Pope 

Welsted,  though  Eusden,  who  has  disappeared  in 
the  mud,  suddenly  rises  up  and  relates  how  the 
Mud  Nymphs  had  sucked  him  down,  and  shown 
him  a  branch  of  Styx,  on  whose  banks  doze  de- 
parted bards.  There  he  had  been  invested  with 
cassock  and  vest  by  Luke  Milbourne,^  who 
assured  him  that  "  dulness  is  sacred  in  a  sound 
divine." 

The  final  competition  is  for  critics,  who  are  set 
to  prove  which  author's  works  are  the  most  con- 
ducive to  slumber,  "  Hoadley's "  periods  or  Black- 
more's  numbers."  If  there  were  any  man  who  could 
listen  to  these  works  and  yet  defy  slumber,  he  should 
be  granted  powers  to  sit — 

Judge  of  all  present,  past,  or  future  wit, 
To  cavil,  censure,  dictate,  right  or  wrong, 
Full  and  eternal  privilege  of  tongue. 

Three  Cambridge  Sophs  and  three  pert  Templars 
enter  for  the  match.  The  books  are  brought  in, 
the  vulgar  form  a  ring,  the  clerks  mount  the 
rostrum — 

And  in  one  lazy  tone 
Through  the  long,  heavy,  painful  page  drawl  on  ; 
Soft  creeping,  words  on  words,  the  sense  compose  ; 
At  ev'ry  line  they  stretch,  they  yawn,  they  dose. 

>  The  Rev.  Luke  Milbourne  (1649-1720).  He  was  made 
Rector  of  St.  Ethelburga's  Within,  Bishopsgate,  in  1704,  and  was 
a  staunch  supporter  of  Dr.  Sacheverell.  He  criticised  Dryden's 
translation  of  "  Virgil,"  and  attempted  one  himself.  This  would 
be  sufficient  to  render  him  obnoxious  to  Pope. 

-  Printed  "  H ."     In  the  MS.  this  is  filled  in  with  the  name 

of  Hoadley,  successively  Bishop  of  Hereford,  Salisbury,  and  Win- 
chester. He  had  attacked  Atterbury  in  The  London  Journal. 
Pope  afterwards  pretended  that  he  had  meant  Henley. 


As  to  soft  gales  top-heavy  pines  bow  low 
Their  heads,  and  lift  them  as  they  cease  to  blow  ; 
Thus  oft  they  rear,  and  oft  the  head  decline, 
As  breathe  or  pause,  by  fits,  the  airs  divine  ; 
And  now  to  this  side,  now  to  that  they  nod, 
As  prose  or  verse  infuse  the  drowsy  god. 

At  length  readers  and  audiences  alike  are  over- 
come by  sleep,  "  and  all  was  hushed  as  Folly's  self 
lay  dead." 

In  Book  III.  the  goddess  transports  the  new  king 
to  her  temple,  and  there  allows  him  to  sleep  with 
his  head  on  her  lap.  In  his  dreams  he  is  carried 
on  easy  Fancy's  wing  to  the  Elysian  shades,  where 
he  is  met  by  the  ghost  of  Settle,  who  takes  him 
to  the  Mount  of  Vision,  whence  he  may  view  the 
triumphs  of  the  Empire  of  Dulness  in  the  past, 
the  present,  and  the  future.  The  great  father  thus 
addresses  the  greater  son  : 

How  little,  see  !  that  portion  of  the  ball 
Where,  faint  at  best,  the  beams  of  science  fall ! 
Against  her  throne,  from  hyperborean  skies, 
In  dulness  strong,  th'  avenging  Vandals  rise. 
Lo,  where  Mseotis  sleeps,  and  hardly  flows 
The  freezing  Tanais  through  a  waste  of  snows, 
The  North  by  myriads  pours  her  mighty  sons — 
Great  nurse  of  Goths,  of  Alans,  and  of  Huns  : 
See  Alaric's  stern  port,  the  martial  frame 
Of  Genseric,  and  Attila's  dread  name  ! 
See  !  the  bold  Ostrogoths  on  Latium  fall ; 
See !  the  fierce  Visigoths  on  Spain  and  Gaul. 
See  !  where  the  morning  gilds  the  palmy  shore 
(The  soil  that  arts  and  infant  letters  bore). 
His  conq'ring  tribes  th'  Arabian  prophet  draw 
And  saving  Ignorance  enthrones  by  laws. 
See  Christians,  Jews,  one  heavy  Sabbath  keep, 
And  all  the  Western  World  believe  and  sleep. 


362  Mr,  Pope 

Then,  distinguishing  Great  Britain,  Settle  shows 
by  what  persons  the  island  shall  be  brought  under 
the  imperial  sway  of  Dulness.  Foremost  among 
these  are  Theophilus  Gibber/  Giles  Jacob,^  Dennis, 
Gildon,  Hearne,^  Orator  Henley,^  Ralph,  and 
Welsted. 

Lo,  thousand  thousand,  every  nameless  name, 
All  crowd,  who  foremost  shall  be  damned  to  fame  ; 
How  proud  !  how  pale  !  how  earnest  all  appear  ! 
How  rhymes  eternal  gingle  in  their  ear  ! 

The  scene  shifts,  and  a  vast  number  of  miracles 
and  prodigies  appear — the  wonders  of  the  new  reign 
which  is  now  beginning.  Settle  prophesies  that 
the  nation  shall  be  overrun  with  farces,  operas, 
and  shows,  the  Throne  of  Dulness  shall  be  set 
up    even    at    Court,  and  her  sons  shall    preside  in 

'  The  ne'er-do-weel  son  of  Colley  Gibber.  Theophilus  was  an 
actor,  and  also  wrote  plays, 

^  Giles  Jacob  (1686-1744).  He  is  described  by  Pope  as  the 
"  blunderbuss  of  law."  Jacob  was  a  prolific  writer  and  compiler. 
He  wrote  "  The  Poetical  Register,"  in  which  he  made  slighting 
mention  of  Gay,  and  compiled  a  "New  Law  Dictionary."  He 
tried  to  retaliate  on  Pope  in  a  letter  to  John  Dennis,  and  in  a  catch- 
penny publication  entitled  The  Mirror^  to  which  he  invited  Lady 
Mary  Wortley  to  contribute. 

^  Thomas  Hearne,  the  Oxford  antiquary  (1678- 1735). 

^  John  Henley  (1692-1756).  Though  brought  up  among  Dis- 
senters, he  took  priest's  orders,  but  found  it  impossible  to  conform 
to  all  the  tenets  of  the  Christian  religion.  He  claims  to  have  intro- 
duced "  action  "  into  the  pulpit,  and  called  himself  "  the  Restorer  of 
ancient  eloquence."  He  set  up  his  Oratory  near  Newport  Market, 
and  there  preached  on  the  Sundays  on  theological  subjects  and 
on  Wednesdays  on  all  other  sciences.  His  hearers,  some  of  whom 
were  the  butchers  from  the  Market,  paid  a  shilling  each  to  hear 
him.  Henley  was  also  a  party-writer,  and  believed  to  be  in  the 
pay  of  Walpole. 


''The  Dunciad"  361, 

the  seats  of  arts  and   sciences.     Tibbald    is   shown 
how — 

A  new  world  to  nature's  laws  unknown,^ 
Refulgent  rises,  with  a  heaven  its  own. 
Another  Cynthia  her  new  journey  runs, 
And  other  planets  circle  other  suns  : 
The  forests  dance,  the  rivers  upward  rise, 
Whales  sport  in  woods,  and  dolphins  in  the  skies  ; 
And  last,  to  give  the  whole  creation  grace, 
Lo  !  one  vast  egg  produces  human  race.^ 

Silent  the  monarch  gazed,  yet  asked  in  thought 
What  god  or  demon  all  these  wonders  wrought  ? 
To  whom  the  Sire  :  "  In  yonder  cloud,  behold, 
Whose  sarcenet  skirts  are  hedged  with  flaring  gold, 
A  godlike  youth.    See  !  Jove's  own  bolts  he  flings, 
Rolls  the  loud  thunder  and  the  lightning  wings  ! 
Angel  of  Dulness,  sent  to  scatter  round 
Her  magic  charms  on  all  unclassic  ground  : 
Yon  stars,  yon  suns,  he  rears  at  pleasure  higher. 
Illumes  their  lights,  and  set  their  flames  on  fire. 
Immortal  Rich  !  ^  how  calm  he  sits  at  ease — 
'Mid  snows  of  paper,  and  fierce  hail  of  pease ; 
And,  proud  his  mistress'  orders  to  perform, 
'  Rides  in  the  whirlwind  and  directs  the  storm.'  "  * 

Tibbald's  reign  is  to  be  even  greater  and  more 
triumphant  than  that  of  Settle.  Like  a  roUing 
stone,  his  "  giddy  dulness  still  shall  lumber  on." 
Bavius  is  ordered  to  take  the  poppy  from  his 
own    brow    and    place    it    on     that    of    the    hero, 

'  The  world  of  farce  and  pantomime. 

^  In  one  of  the  pantomimes  the  harlequin  was  hatched  out  of  a 
large  egg. 

^  John  Rich,  the  manager  of  the  theatre  in  Lincoln's  Inn 
Fields,  and  afterwards  of  Covent  Garden.  He  was  a  harlequin  of 
genius,  who  made  pantomimes  the  rage. 

*  Borrowed  from  Addison's  poem,  "  The  Campaign." 


1 


364  Mr.  Pope 

the  new  Augustus  who  is  born  to  bring  Saturnian 
times  : 

Let  there  be  darkness  /  the  dread  power  shall  say. 
All  shall  be  darkness,  as  it  ne'er  were  day  ; 
To  their  first  Chaos  wit's  vain  works  shall  fall, 
And  universal  Dulness  cover  all  ! 

No  more  the  monarch  could  such  raptures  bear ; 
He  waked,  and  all  the  vision  mixed  with  air.  ^ 

'  The  quotations  in  this  summary  are  all  taken  from  the  first 
edition  of  "The  Dunciad,"  published  in  1728. 


END    OF    VOL.    I 


Printed  by  Hazell,  IValson  cS*  Viytey,  Ld.,  London  and  Aylesbury. 


V 


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This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  ^l^p^ 


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J*N  1 7 1989 


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3  1158  00557  6003 
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UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    000  366  299 


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